A Knight's Prestige
by Triplesquidge
Summary: A knight's worth is his level of skill and his ability to protect his king and to fight for what they believe is right. So as the Ultimate Knight, where will he stand among the Knights. AU.
1. Tainted Hero

**Here is the start of the 15 day project!**

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><p>The church was seen as a sacred place, it was a place without impurity. A place that was untainted. To the eyes of the common person, that what it was but in truth it was anything but that. It was a place that was tainted despite the restriction. It was a place that couldn't uphold the hold it was there for.<p>

On one particular day, this point added to the constant rumours and could only stay as rumours from the source. On the very first day of the month of May, in a desolate forest in a region of Europe, a church lay in shambles ablaze in an eternal fire as the sun beamed down above it.

There was no bodies, not any more. No pews, not anymore. There was only the candles and the remnants of what was once a church that was in full order. It's roof collapsed but it's debris was in order in the four corners of the church. At the head, sitting atop the somewhat ruined altar was a young man. An alert young man with hawk-like aqua eyes was looking directly up to the glaring sun in the sky. The fires glistened as they flickered, with no attempt to spread and no desire to burn anything that was currently outside of where they had already spread.

The young man finally dropped his head down to show his head of hair. His hair was a golden blonde. Short on the left side, but thick and medium length everywhere else. On the top of his head, his hair stuck up in an unkempt fashion angled diagonally to the right creating a small crescent. His fringe spiked down idly, short and thin at the left only getting thicker and longer the further across his forehead it got before covering most of his right eye and cheek along with completely covering his right ear.

Sensing the presence of intruders on the area, he tilted his head to the right slightly showing off the blue taper in his left ear that was shaped life a fanged wolf tooth.

"And what business do Devils have in this church?!"

The young man's voice bellowed at the three people that passed through the entranceway which only held one door barely on it's hinges. The person at the front was a young girl with long crimson hair in a dress. Then the two people behind the young girl was a man who was the male counterpart to the young girl in the front, and a silver-haired woman in a maid's uniform.

"This disturbance. We were in the area and I couldn't stop my younger sister from interfering."

"Mou~ Onii-tama~"

The young man raised a single eyebrow in interest. He had no idea what 'Mou' or 'Onii-tama' meant, not in the slightest.

"I see, then perhaps I should explain myself. I killed everyone here, destroyed everything and set it ablaze. Though I do feel slightly irked to have done so."

"You did this? You are strong for someone so young."

"Chalk that up to simple heritage, something you three are aware of."

The crimson haired male adopted a slight smirk at hearing that point. The point given wasn't filled with contempt but understanding.

"The Church tried to use you, didn't they?"

"Quick one ain't ya? However, you are correct. As a Hero Descendant and a natural Holy Sword Wielder, they wanted to experiment on me. As my body naturally exudes a higher Light-attribute count than others. In truth, I hold that in equal to whatever the 'Spear of the Setting Sun' is. Chalk that down to blood, my Holy Sword and my Sacred Gear."

"You possess a Holy Sword?! What is it, Nii-chan?"

Nii-chan? Yet again, something that confused the young blonde male. But, after slaughtering a number of priests he felt like doing some giving.

"Until I get more from you three folks, the name of that stays secret."

"Fine~! I'm Rias Gremory and the heiress to the Gremory clan."

"And I'm Sirzechs Lucifer, Ria-tan's older brother."

The Gremory clan? Pillar Devils huh?

The blonde man then turned to look directly at the Silver-haired woman who stayed quiet until the man who was called Sirzechs Lucifer looked at her.

"My name is Grayfia Lucifuge and I'm the Head Maid to the Gremory Clan."

"And I'm Gawain Rheon. The Descendant of Sir Gawain, one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table."

"G-Gawain? You hold Galatine, the sister sword to Excalibur?!"

"Along with it's ability to manipulate Solar Energy. I've faced a dragon before, compared to Corona they are pretty weak."

Sirzechs Lucifer's eyes dilated in their sockets, his knees started to bend ever-so-slightly as he was getting to bend down.

"You said your Sacred Gear helps your Light-Attribute count, does that mean you have Blade Blacksmith?"

The young man named Gawain chuckled heartily at that common misconception, everyone always had that first thought.

"No, no Sirzechs Lucifer. If you really are in the position of Lucifer then you will understand me when I say 'Knight's Prestige'."

"Y-You have that?!"

After blurting it out, he immediately kneeled down to his younger sister and furiously whispered in her ear, and presumably about what Galatine and Knight's Prestige was. In truth, it made him the strongest knight. No matter whether it was Holy or Demonic, Divine or Cursed. It was a sword that was now his.

"Can I?!"

After Sirzechs had finally whispered in his sister's ears, she jumped up and down excitedly. To which Sirzechs just knocked his head in the direction of Gawain.

"Ne Gawain-nii, would you join my peerage? Pretty please."

Gawain returned Rias' gaze enigmatically, a large surprised smile spread across his face as he stared down at her from the altar that he was sitting on. With the smile still plastered on his face, he spoke directly to Rias Gremory.

"I have been looking for someone I can call my King. So, Rias Gremory, why should you be my King?"

Rias seemed to rack her brain for all of three seconds before blurting out her answer surprising Gawain even further.

"Because if I'm to be the Strongest King then I'll need the Strongest Queen."

Gawain's smile only grew at her answer before he was unable to control what was currently building up in his chest and let it out in fervent laughter. It took several moments for him to calm his laughter but when he did, he smiled at the young heiress heartily.

"The fire burns strongly in you. Very well then. From henceforth, I will serve under you as your faithful Queen."

With a slight push, Gawain jumped off from the altar and a small breeze flooded out from his body dispersing the flames in the church along with the basic illusion of priest clothing that was around his body. His feet touched the ground with a metal clang.

With the illusion dispersed, Gawain stood up proudly in his armour. A royal blue cloak that split in accordance with his legs was under a glossy white armoured full-body torso, the collar of the cloak sticking upwards. Both cloak and armour were decorated with a golden trim. Attached to the underside of the back rim of the chestplate was a hood that rested against the chestplate, it was royal blue in colour with a white stripe down it's centre. Small white plated spaulders fitted to his shoulders by straps that locked to the underside of the chestplate. Medieval-style white gauntlets enveloped his hands, the very tips looked like they had been dipped in gold paint. On his legs were a pair of cloth pants that were also a royal blue like the cloak itself but due to the cloak and the boots it was mostly out of sight. The only freely seen parts would be his thighs or the crotch/hip region. The armoured boots were the same white plated metal as the gauntlets, spaulders and chestplate but these had extra to them. Like the normal armoured boots, it ran up his leg up to knee level and curving upwards to protect the kneecap itself but continued on slightly with a thin metal bar that wrapped around his thigh.

Gawain's smile slowly drooped but never disappeared and before the three devils could truly take in the sight of him in his armoured form, he hunched forwards slightly and put his arms out in front of him placing his left hand over the top of his right like he was leaning on something and that's when Galatine let itself be introduced.

The sword itself appeared into view, as if a curtain was slowly being opened to let in the light. A short sword with a hilt and grip that was wrapped up in a royal blue cloth. It was a single freely flowing piece of white metal. Then the scabbard for Galatine formed from the tip of the blade up, and like Excalibur's Avalon it was special. It was made from platinum and was sleek to the blade with a black flower design. The power to give nature a second wind, the ability to instantly grow a tree, the ability to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. Sun's warmth, the act of photosynthesis.

"Beautiful~"

Gawain's smile reverted back to it's previous size. He thought the same thing. His armour, the sword and it's scabbard. They were all elegant and beautiful but through it's simplicity. The design was something so simple yet it's appearance was anything but mundane. Even by himself, he was a handsome young man in his own right but combined with the armour he gave off a divine feeling. Almost like he was art, the perfect picture of a knight. Standing tall, standing graciously, standing in wait.

Kneeling down, Gawain placed the scabbard into the hook on his cloak that fit it to a tee and looked straight into Rias' eyes from just above her level. His eyes had steeled once again, reverting completely to their original hawk-like appearance.

"I, Gawain Rheon, pledge my eternal loyalty to Rias Gremory. Through the swords in my possession, no opponent will be too tough. My sword is her sword. My pride is her pride. My gain is her gain. My triumph is her triumph. My reward … is her eternal happiness."

Surprising the three devils, with his out-of-nowhere speech, the young heiress stood there dumbstruck unable to say anything in return to his declaration of allegiance. And Gawain just waited, his expression didn't shift for all of the 5 minutes that followed, he continued to kneel there patiently.

When she returned to the land of the living, her face erupted into a bright red hue before she started to fumble around in the small bag that was by her side. Searching for the piece that would recognise him as her Queen and when she pulled the piece out, it shook in anticipation. Without command, it knew who it would be able to call it's home and so the Queen piece shot, straight into Gawain's armour shaking in it's power ready to do it's course in the reincarnation process.

"I order, in my name Rias Gremory. You, Gawain Rheon. To become my Queen, to begin anew in your life and to live happily."

Gawain's eyes softened as the Queen piece phased through his armour and started to incorporate itself with his body. A small bead of sweat trickled down his forehead as a brief pang of pain struck through his body as it was being forcibly altered. The pain only lessening slightly because of his consent, shaking his head to get rid of the pain. His eyes immediately narrowed and he bowed his head.

"From now until the end of time, your wish is my every command."

Their contract was then sealed with Gawain's oath. A reason to live and move on, a connection to his ancestor. And his pledge was the most important part of the contract, it showed his allegiance and it forced him to change colours. Until now, no other Gawain descendant had put themselves under the rule of another King so their cloak and Galatine stuck with it's Royal Blue apparel of the Arturian regime but now it was different.

The white stripe on his hood was the first to change, it darkened and deepened becoming an abyssal black. The royal blue faded to grey before darkening, taking on the appearance of blood before it's colour hardened and honed in on it's exact pigment. Then it flushed, the new demonic energy in him flooded out into his cloak and washed away it's hardened blood surface giving way to it's new crimson appearance that was no less beautiful then before.

His allegiance was set, secured in stone.

…

Around half a year had passed before Gawain was finally given sufficient freedom from the main compound of his King, which was the Gremory Castle. For six straight months, he was pushed into learning the devil language and it's politics. How devil's actually fight and then in turn training with the skills of a Devil but he was born better than average and had honed his limited skills to the level that he could freely spar with others. He sparred with someone who was actually considered a hero, in Japanese culture at least, Souji Okita who was Sirzechs Lucifer's knight. They trained together twice a week, every week for those 6 months and never did Gawain lose for it was always a draw for Gawain's style was unexpected and his level of skill was even more so.

He trained with Sirzechs Lucifer's Rooks as well, twice a week. But despite losing each and every time, he never allowed himself to falter. Always continuing to stand tall as the last line of defence to his King, and at the moment the only true line of defense to his King.

He was then forced into training with Sirzechs Lucifer's Queen, the maid, Grayfia Lucifuge. A woman who was quite frankly an anomaly to him. Her level of power truly transcended him and only when he summoned his strongest Demon swords could he truly put up a fight against her but it never lasted. While his ability to control Solar energy was more than sufficient to melt her ice with his Corona, he simply didn't have enough magic in his mana pool to even tire her slightly.

Grayfia Lucifuge was someone that Gawain spent a lot of time with, his tutoring was mostly done by her and all of his sessions, even physical training, was overseen exclusively by her and whenever his King could escape from her own lessons. Grayfia was an enigma to Gawain, her presence and position in the Underworld was something he saw as odd. She was the metaphorical third wheel and it was something Gawain learnt early on.

The rise of fame for the current Maous. They weren't descendants of the Maous he had read about before but the past heirs to Pillar Clans. There was a revolt, a Civil War with the Pillar Heirs coming on top. The point that intrigued Gawain most was the romance part. Before going to the war, Sirzechs Lucifer, at the time Sirzechs Gremory, was already set to marry the heiress from the Andrealphus clan but during the war was a dilemma, a sort of understanding than can only arise on a battlefield and to what vibrated through the Underworld a fleeting romance. When the civil war came to an end, Sirzechs Lucifer was forced into making a choice. The woman who he was set to marry, a woman who he had come to love or the woman he met on a bloody battlefield, a rare and beautiful woman who was one of very few who could keep up with him. And so Sirzechs Lucifer made his choice, the woman he grew up learning about, Karissa Andrealphus, who after the effects of the Civil War was the last remaining member of her clan.

Despite it all, it was a seemingly well regarded tale of romance and the whole thing just seemed to make Sirzechs Lucifer look better. He became the Lord of Devils, he could have technically had both women but he chose one. It surprised Gawain slightly when he was told the story and when he read the parchments for himself. It gave him a new sense of respect for his King's older brother.

And because of everything that was going on, Gawain had become someone who could freely go for 4-5 days without sleep and not experience moments of weakness. That was down to his Knight's blood and his partnership with his King. She was 5 years younger than himself, she was 10 where he was 15. They spent a lot of time together, almost as if they were brother and sister. He would spend time with her doing as she wished, watched anime with her, played games with her. His lap and chest was also a place she found to be as comfortable as her own bed, many a times she had fallen asleep on him and so he simply refrained from moving to allow his King her sleep. Foregoing his own so she could rest up.

Gawain's whole manner of being brought him respect from those in the Gremory clan. They loved him and loved him even more when they saw him with his King, Rias Gremory. The smile he wore as he looked after her, played with her, kept her safe. It wasn't a fake smile, it wasn't a smile to keep her placated, it was a true smile and one that was full of warmth but it wasn't one that was happy to be of service to his King but one of brotherly warmth. His gaze was soft, his naturally hawk-like eyes were always softened in her presence and never once was his narrowed, penetrating gaze sent her way. He always had the composure to loosen and soften up towards his King. And both the Lord and Lady of Gremory along with Sirzechs Lucifer loved him because of it, welcomed him truly as one of their own. To them he was the perfect servant and Queen Rias could have asked for. Strong and competent with feelings that were true and not out of obligation in the slightest.

Despite all of this, his only shown quirk was a more than confusing one. His quirk was his desire to dress his room himself, he instantly asked for everything to be gotten rid of in his assigned room. The maids and butler alike, stared at him wide-eyed and confused. Even though they were both servants, they had worse bedding than he did but it wasn't by much. When Lord Gremory was informed of this, his interest was instantly peaked and so he sought to find out why with his daughter and wife by his side and Grayfia in tow they went to his room. But when they opened the door, they were completely bewildered.

The door opened up to a brief spell of darkness before the newly installed floating candles lit up to dimly illuminate the room. Lined upon the four walls of the room were a countless number of the most basic black wooden desks, they fit together like a puzzle and in the corners the same desks stacked up high but in a broken yet organized manner. Crimson cloth with golden tassels lined the desks and the corners held the cloth like drapes. A single crimson carpet led from the door to the back of the room where Gawain sat on top of the desks. Standing like pillars on either side of the carpet like a barrier were ornate swords, beautiful creations that gave the room a much more regal feel.

And there Gawain sat atop the desks. With a silver jewelled crown on his head a smirk plastered on his face. A red t-shirt underneath the black leather jacket that hugged his muscular torso, a pair of black jeans tucked into a pair of black cloth boots that were kept fastened by red zip-up straps. His left leg dangled loosely just above the floor, his right leg bent and raised placed atop the desk with the elbow of his right arm balanced on the knee with a silver goblet in that hand.

Their eyes widened in surprise, Lord Gremory whistled in fascination, Rias blurted out her opinion on how 'amazingly cool' it was where Lady Gremory just blinked repeatedly unable to understand why and Grayfia … well, she just looked as uninterested as always.

"Gawain, you got rid of all the luxuries provided to you for this?"

Lady Gremory couldn't keep the confusion from her tone.

"Don't worry, I kept all the cool and fancy bathing supplies. I didn't expect there to be bath beads and the like."

"But why?"

"I believe my King put it in the best way. Because it's 'amazingly cool'."

"But where will you sleep?"

"Here. On the desks. From the ragged cloth covered slabs in the churches I've been in, this is great."

"That still doesn't explain.. No, I'm not going to bother."

Gawain wasn't interested as to why Lady Gremory gave up her questioning but was simply happy to it as he could keep the room as it was. To force him to change it would be to force him to change who he is.

"Gawain, don't you think a chandelier would work better for your candles?"

"I don't really wanna ruin the ambiance Lord Gremory. The swords are plenty."

Gawain had to give props to Lord Gremory, he understood.

"I understand, I really do."

…

The day after Gawain had finished his six months of standard knowledge and training lessons to be fit as a Queen of an Heiress, he finally left the castle to meet the people of his King with said King. With his casual clothes on, he slung on a series of leather straps that hung loosely around his hip with an empty brown scabbard connected to it. Slotting itself into the scabbard was a sword from Gawain's Sacred Gear, it was the magical steel sword Kladenets. Leaving his leather jacket open, he left his room to where his King was waiting for him.

Vaulting the ornate balcony, he drops down into the main hall of the castle and quickly straightens his body before approaching his King and her parents.

"Now Rias, remember to be good for Gawain."

Gawain's eyebrow raised in interest. It was like he was a family friend taking care of her for the day or so, not at all like he was her servant.

"Mou~~ Okaa-sama!"

He may have spent the past six months with the young girl, being forced into watching the things she enjoys and playing the games she enjoyed but still, he had absolutely no idea what it meant or why it meant whatever it did.

"Gawain. We leave our daughter in your capable hands. Please keep her safe."

To Gawain, this was a little too dramatic for their first outing which is just to scour the capital city. The place that treats her as a Princess. Basically introducing myself as her Queen to her people, showing them that she has someone to faithfully protect her always. Saying it like that and at this time is a little too much in his opinion but Gawain will respond to it in kind.

"I am more than honoured to perform this duty. I would sooner die than allow her beautiful skin to become blemished."

It may have been slightly ironic for him to respond in such a way that downplayed how dramatic he thought Lord and Lady Gremory were being but he was somewhat of a show-off.

"You don't have to go that far, my boy. She may be a young girl but she is still a Devil. A small cut or a bruise will not even last a day for her so please don't stress yourself to much about her safety."

"I'm thankful for that but I mustn't allow myself to become complacent. She is my King, if I can take the hit I will do so even if it means me being humiliated or embarrassed in some way. It's better me than my King."

Both of their gazes softened considerably, to the point it was like they were convinced that he was the right boy for their daughter. A man who would go to the ends of the earth simply just to make her happy.

"Come on Aniki~ There are so many places to go. So many people you need to meet."

He felt his left hand being tugged on the moment his King's voice graced his ears. Looking down with a raised brow, Gawain could see his king balanced on the heels of her feet with both of her small hands wrapped around his hand with two fingers in each grip.

"Of course Milady. We will depart momentarily, the Lord and Lady still would like to tell me something."

Gawain watched her pout with a small smile before he looked back to Lord and Lady Gremory who were still smiling themselves.

"Thank you for being so patient with her Gawain. She was lucky to have met you those six months ago."

"And so was I. To meet such a bundle of joy, all the aspects of my current life here have been fun."

"Good. Now onto what we wanted to say before you left."

Both of their expressions soured slightly but their smiles didn't disappear.

"There have been reports of shady goings on in the area."

"I see. I will keep my eyes on Milady and my ears on the gossip and alleys."

"No, no, you don't have to go that far. We already have our own lookouts for such things, we just thought we should inform you of this ourselves. I'm also sure that the people you'll meet today will tell you of the same thing."

"Understood. I will keep Milady safe, but not only that I will promise I will not dote on her while we are gone. Speaking of, is there any orders to be picked up while we are there?"

"Don't worry yourself about that Gawain. Just concentrate on Rias."

Showing his understanding through a bow of my head, Gawain then swivelled quickly taking his King by surprise before taking a hold of her by her waist and hoisting her up into the air before plopping her back down on his shoulders.

"Where to Milady? Shall we charge into battle?"

"Uoooooh~"

As Rias let out an enthusiastic shout, she pumped her tiny right fist up into the air in an adorable manner.

"Then we shall be off."

Without a care of anything else but putting the act into one seamless act for his King's entertainment, Gawain set off without warning and kicking his way through the large doors to the castle itself and sprinting off into the Gremory Capital with his King safely upon his shoulders. Taking a quick one-two step before the gate to the castle confounds, Gawain bent down before pushing up and vaulting the perimeter to the compounds much like a horse would to a wooden fence.

"Haaah...For all of Gawain's maturity, he sure does know how to act childish with Rias."

"And isn't that what's so great about Gawain. He is almost like a second son to us and a second brother to Rias."

"That's true dear but …"

Lady Gremory's happy expression completely dropped as a thought came to her head. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, Lord Gremory watched as the back of Gawain and his daughter dropped out of view with a soft smile.

"He is so much like a son that we have become worried about his own future. He will find love, that is something I'm sure of."

"I hope so..."

…

"It's Lady Rias-sama~!"

"Rias-ojousama~!"

"It's the Princess~!"

Enthusiastic shouts from the people of the Gremory Capital leaked out into the air after Rias landed in the centre of the capital upon her trusted steed, Gawain. They were then instantly flooded with the townsfolk who had all quickly came to greet the region's Princess.

"Ara Rias-sama, who is this fetching young man with you?"

Gawain's playful smile rose up into a smirk alongside Rias' own increase in happiness.

"He's Gawain Rheon, he is my Queen."

Gawain gave a light nod of his head to go with her words as if to say 'What can you do?' about taking up her Queen piece.

"My, he must be a powerful one. Take care of our Princess, Mr. Queen."

"My honour to do so Ma'am- Oi! Get off my sword!"

Gawain's reply ended abruptly albeit the split second he had actually finished replying by looking down to the kids who were surrounding him and shouting at them indignantly to let go off his sword.

"Mou~~ But mister!"

That only further Gawain's frustration, more young people who know whatever that 'Mou' meant.

"No means no, you lot! I don't want you all accidentally hurting yourself."

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><p><strong>And there is the first chapter! Woo~!<br>**

**Honestly, the Fate vibes here are pretty obvious. He is like the love child of Saber and Archer, although the two Sabers i had in mind are both male.  
>Putting that aside, Fate will only be in reference here. I'm not gonna channel that much because i'm still relatively new to it all.<br>That won't stop me from mentioning it and having fun with that.**

**Then there is Gawain himself. Strong, most definitely so but he isn't overpowered.  
>He is someone who is tempered well and his power fits to the particular scenario.<br>At times he will seem weak and at times he will seem OP, and i'm ok with that.  
>It works for him as all he has to strengthen his body is himself, he doesn't haev the Dragon Armour of a Balance Breaker or what have you.<br>He simply has his Knight Armour.**

**And like i said in the Note chapter for Neko, for those who saw it and now for those who didn't.  
>You've seen the first instance of change. No Akeno as Queen and i'll say it now, it'll be a while before she is even seen in this particular story.<br>Some won't like that and some will be interested into seeing what i've got in store because of it.  
>The second instance is no GrayfiaxSirzechs, yeah that coupling got blown out of the window for me here.<br>Of recent months, i've become more and more infatuated with Grayfia as a character. Especially that Onsen side-story, damn that was nosebleed worthy.  
>I suppose that also gives away something :P<strong>

**I'll get to the potential harem list or whatever in another chapter.  
>And i'll do some more explaining, tomorrow in the next chapter as i still have to finish the standard friday update xD.<strong>

**So i'll leave you with the newest farewell and something that is close to me like my typical Ciao is language.  
>Seen as i'm half welsh and my character is Welsh, i'll bid you farewell in my first language.<strong>

**Hwyl fawr~!**


	2. Sitri Castle

**Somewhere down the line i thought that 15 straight days of uploads would be good.  
>It may be for you guys xD<strong>

* * *

><p>"Ne Aniki~ You'll be meeting Sona-chan for the first time today right?"<p>

While continuing to read his book as the carriage bundles along the road, Gawain responds with a slight apprehension in his tone.

"That is correct Milady. It's been over a year now since I became your Queen but I've always been out when Sona would visit you. Though I have to ask Milady, why is it only now we are going to see her?"

"Supposedly Sona-chan found her own Queen and it's a girl too~! There's no way she will never be as powerful as you though Aniki~"

"That puts me at ease Milady. I will do my best to make sure of it."

Responding somewhat playfully, Gawain finally closes the book in his hand after placing his bookmark on the page he finally stopped at.

"What'cha readin' Aniki~?"

"It's a book that Grayfia got me for my birthday last week. I've never really read a book before but this is quite good. Though, I feel slightly off like there is a sign."

"Eh~? What do you mean Aniki~?"

"Well, it's about a knight serving his master but falling for his maid and in turn failing to be there at his King's final moment."

"I don't understand."

"Me neither Milady, me neither."

That wasn't true. Gawain fully understood the implications or the hidden desire to the gift. Over the past year, Gawain had got closer to Grayfia and also vice-versa in that regard. She had opened up, and also loosened up to an extent but she was still stoic choosing to go through alternate methods to sometimes tell him something and as of this book Gawain was finally starting to understand what Grayfia was actually saying.

Coming to this conclusion, Gawain's first thought was embarrassment on Grayfia's behalf but it just didn't seem to fit from a sensing side of things. It just didn't feel right to think that Grayfia would be embarrassed over doing such a thing so Gawain went with the only other conclusion he could muster. Discreetness. To Gawain, the way she was doing things was to do it in a discreet manner because of how he was. Something to come simply from his terms, it was easier for her to deal with him either not understanding or learning and not answering in kind because everyone in the Gremory Clan knew that Rias was Gawain's ultimate priority and if it impeded on him doing his duty then he wouldn't do it at all.

And so, all that led Gawain to a question.

"Milady, I know relationships are a touchy subject for you but may I ask you a question about it?"

"Of course Aniki~"

Rias' tone was a complete 180 of the loathing that was currently going on through her mind.

"My duty is to you first and foremost but you have given me downtime where I can do things that I want to do so I was just wondering about something for myself, someone for myself. I was wondering if that would be ok with you."

The large wooden carriage wobbled slightly as Rias started to kick up a riot as she clambered to the seat opposite Gawain to curiously look him in the eye.

"Of course Aniki~. I don't have the right to do something like that."

"M-Milady."

Rias' words surprised Gawain. For all of her innocence, Gawain somewhat expected an 'If I can't, you can't' reply but his heart lifted when he heard something different.

"Why? Who is it Aniki~? Do I know her?"

"No one yet Milady. I'm just asking for the future."

"Mou~~ You better tell me straight away when you do."

"Of course Milady."

…

"""Welcome Rias-sama!"""

When Rias and Gawain finally arrived at the Sitri castle, they were greeted by a number of maids and butlers at the door to the castle itself, to which was promptly opened when they were in full sight.

The inside of the Sitri castle wasn't too different from that of the Gremory castle, it was just the particulars in different people's preferences. The style of the vases, the artists of pictures upon the wall, the colour of certain drapes and then there was the different clan insignia which went from crimson to blue, a rose to a necklace.

Entering the castle, Rias and Gawain were met by four people, 3 females and a male. The male and the older female stood directly behind the first two, they were Lord and Lady Sitri. Then the two in front were Rias' friend and her new Queen. Sona Sitri and Tsubaki Shinra. Gawain did take note that they all had silky black hair and was definitely caught by the fact that the Queen heterochromia but the colour he couldn't see exactly due to the dip of her head.

"Rias, I'm glad to see you again. I hope you've been well."

"As always~"

Lord Sitri let out a small chuckle in reply to Rias' informal but happy response.

"And you must be her Queen. The boy that Sirzechs has been going on about to our daughter Serafall."

"Yes, I am. My name is Gawain Rheon. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

Gawain's body straightened as he spoke and then bowed as he finished.

"My daughter was kind enough to tell us all about you. She said you are the descendant of Sir Gawain himself, one of King Arthur's Knights. Rias was lucky to find you."

"Lord Gremory has said the same thing. I had spent some time looking for someone to call my King, truthfully I think I'm the luckier one to find such a great and adorable King to protect."

"During our talks Lord Gremory had mentioned that, you are like a brother to her. Coincidentally, I also saw and heard about your first outing into your capital."

"Ahh that. It warmed my heart to see so much true support towards my King from the townsfolk. They were all so kind and warm towards her."

"If I may, would my wife and I be able to speak to you for a short while before letting you spend some time with the girls?"

"Of course Lord Sitri, as long as my young King won't get too jealous of you stealing her precious time with me. Isn't that right Milady?"

"Mou~~ Aniki! I won't get jealous. Come on Sona-chan!"

Gawain let a soft smile come to his expression as he watched his young King storm off through the Gremory castle with her stoic best-friend by the wrist. The young Queen of Sitri stayed still for a brief second before she was pulled away by the sound of her own King's voice calling for her to follow them.

"So Gawain, I've already said that our daughter has told us about you but would you be able to tell us about yourself?"

Slightly surprised by the question, Gawain gave a nod of his head before silently wondering where to begin.

"First off is of course the most important part, my blood heritage. I am the descendant of Sir Gawain like you had mentioned and because of that, I am the current wielder of Galatine, the sister sword to Excalibur. Most of my life I had been living in the Church, going from place to place basically acting like an Exorcist for the last few years of my time there. Until it got too much for me, I was simply being used so they could make more Holy Sword wielders as my Light-attribute count was so high. That was when Milady found me alongside Sirzechs-sama and Grayfia. Sitting atop the altar of a destroyed church that was set ablaze. It was such a chance encounter, it felt like fate had deemed it so that Rias would be my King."

"Rias?"

"Ah yes. I do not mean it offensively but with who I am and how I was born, I do not use these suffixes. Honestly, I find it hard to comprehend some of the stuff that Milady says like Mou and Hidoi. And so I stick to using Milady and My King when regarding her, though I have slipped into my native welsh tongue from time to time."

"I see. You definitely stick to your duty well. Then how about this Sacred Gear you have? Serafall has told me you have a resistance to Holy magic because of it."

"Knight's Prestige. It allows me to summon and wield the swords of the great knights of history, it also allows me to dual-wield Galatine if I so wished. I can freely wield Holy Sword, Demonic Swords, Divine Swords and even Cursed Swords without consequence. They are all however, hollow and don't feel full to use so using the swords of the Round Table I feel like I'm disrespecting them at times, especially Excalibur itself. The resistance however, that's only when I'm wielding a Holy Sword that it comes into effect. And that's a part of the Balance Breaker that I somewhat have."

Both Lord and Lady Sitri were surprised at that part. Surprised that Gawain had already hit Balance Breaker so quickly but also because it was at a level of 'Somewhat'.

"You've already attained Balance Breaker. You are only 16."

"About that, the moment I was reincarnated was the moment I achieved it. It's a blood wish so to say. It's a story in my family that Sir Gawain was repentant about King Arthur's death and believing that it was his fault that the death blow reached King Arthur. Sir Gawain's final wish was to serve his new King better than he did King Arthur in the next life. From there it became a build-up, no other descendant had served a King. Rather than just a change in my emotions, it was also a change in my blood. And the reason why my Balance Breaker is at somewhat is the same reason why training with my Sacred Gear normally is weird."

"I take it you have to have prior knowledge on the Knight?"

"That is correct Lady Sitri. And as my Balance Breaker goes beyond simply knowing of the Sword and who the wielder is, it takes longer to be able to summon it and then use it. My Balance Breaker however, which I have called Hero's Honour, goes the extra step. Along with Knights, I can also summon the weapons of those who have been considered Heroes like Hercules or Gilgamesh. But not all Hero's Honour is in their weapons, some have more honour in their shields or armour or even steeds and that is what my Balance Breaker does. I could completely become King Arthur or any other Hero or Knight from history for battle. Somewhat of an illusion tactic for Angels and the Church, I know my current armour and Galatine has done that for the Exorcists I have dealt with."

"It's hard to believe that your Sacred Gear isn't counted as a Longinus."

"I do agree Lord Sitri but I can also see why it isn't. Longinus are said to be able to make anyone able to kill a God. My Sacred Gear only allows trained weapon specialists with advanced knowledge in history to potentially kill Gods. Given the thought about my Sacred Gear, it makes me think that most Sacred Gears can be potential Longinus'. It's solely how good it's possessor is and how well they can use it."

"You seem to have a keen insight on this. Is all of this for your King?"

Lord Sitri wore a soft smirk of prior knowledge.

"Normally it would be but I'm also interested in it. Sacred Gears are a fascinating subject by themselves, especially as each and every Sacred Gear supposedly has a spirit or conscious. Having to know them so I can completely protect Milady makes my interest in them completely worthwhile."

Gawain's reply was just as soft as Lord Sitri's smile was.

"Now enough about that. What's your take on Rias?"

"She is an adorable young girl. An energetic bundle of joy, slightly eccentric at times but so is Sirzechs-sama. Dealing with them both has been a hassle when Grayfia wasn't around. Each and every minute has been fun though."

"Mentioning Grayfia actually, Sirzechs has been quite proud in saying 'Rias' Queen is able to keep up with my own'."

Letting out a dry sigh, Gawain just shook his head.

"I wouldn't really go that far but for the most part that is correct. He probably says that because of how potent my fire magic is. With Galatine and it's Solar manipulation, I use Corona so I'm using Plasma rather than Fire. And so I can easily melt any ice Grayfia sent my way, problem being the massive difference in our magic pools. Then the other problem is who would win in a fight. If she was truly serious or if I was allowed to use my Holy Swords and armour? Grayfia would still probably destroy me though."

"Oh, could we see your skills in action against my own Queen?"

"I don't see a reason to decline your offer Lord Sitri. Milady has always been excited to see me put the legendary swords I have into action. I've been itching to use some of the Demonic swords."

"Then let's do it."

…

If people can say 'Women and their clothes' then logic persists that a similar thing can be said about men. Usually theirs is something more barbaric, based around bloodshed most typically fights or swords but the universal thing that is always said is 'Men and their toys'. It goes full circuit in a way but this time, right now the 'Men and their swords' fits.

Since becoming a Devil, Gawain built up a fascination towards demonic swords and the particular sword he chose was the one he held most interest in and it was the sword that belonged to the General of the original Leviathan's whole army. And in times of the Great War, she was known as a Hero to the Devil warriors and a devil who cast aside her fear of being struck by Light magic and persevered through sheer will and honour to her king. And her sword was called Laevateinn, a pitch black Japanese styled blade with an orange serrated edge.

The reason for Gawain's interest was that it wasn't the true original blade. The true original blade was a staff with a sword shaft with a wider blade than that of a Japanese styled blade. The original Leviathan stole the staff from the Norse, bestowed his own power upon it and forced it into a new shape before giving it to a woman he would later call his wife as an offering. Somewhat crass way to go about giving a gift to someone you love but the end result was what Gawain thought was most interesting about it.

And when Gawain released the sword from it's sheathe for all the onlookers to see, he made a show of it, twirling it about emphatically all while keeping his hawk-like eyes on his opponent. From the moment Gawain stepped out onto the garden, even when he was thinking about his choice of sword, his eyes never left their target, Lord Sitri's Queen. Like Gawain, she was a blade wielder who used magic as a secondary but there was a subtle difference in their eyes while waiting for the signal to begin combat. While Gawain's eyes were hawk-like and completely honed in, hers were wide and completely open but wholeheartedly resolved in not to go soft but to use full force. It was odd to get such a feeling from such a look but it didn't make Gawain falter.

"Milady!"

"Yes Gawain?"

"My opponent is armoured. Do I have permission to wear my own?"

"Hai~ Show her who is boss Aniki~!"

"Your wish is my command, My King!"

Gawain then slipped into his stance. Pushing his right foot back, standing sideways on while looking over his shoulder towards his opponent. His body hunching down slightly, both hands on the handle of his blade raising it slightly above his head before letting out a small breath making the wind whip up around him. Crimson gusts of distortion darted around his body. His casual clothes being exchanged. His black jeans into his crimson clothed pants, his black leather jacket into his crimson tailed cloak. Then as his boots morphed, the rest of his armour fitted itself onto his body. The left gauntlet came with his left plate boot, his right gauntlet came with his right plate boot. His full-body chestplate appeared around his torso along with the spaulders before finally the hood locked itself into place under the neckline of the chestplate, only this time the hood was raised and masking his face from the onlookers.

"Gawain-sama! Ready?"

The answer Gawain gave the butler who was acting as the official was further bending his knees down and edging forward an inch.

"Terri-sama! Ready?"

"Yes!"

The Queen named Terri then released her sword from it's sheathe, it's silver blade glowing.

"Then begin!"

The moment the word was uttered Gawain disappeared and reappeared again directly behind Terri, only his hawk-like blue eyes appearing from under the hood. With Laevateinn raised, he brought it straight down narrowly missing Terri who was just moving forward at that moment to charge towards Gawain stood originally. And she then turned around as the Katana smashed against the ground churning it up and setting it ablaze.

The destruction wasn't what surprised them the most but what Gawain's body was like when he started to stand back up. His body swayed from side to side, reminiscent of a zombie or skeleton being raised from the ground. It was almost like his conscious was gone, however Rias Gremory could tell otherwise. Gawain was honed and using the sword in the way it was built to, the way the sword desired to be used.

But because of how awkward he stood back up, it took time. Time that Terri used to charge at him and make her first strike, coming straight in from the front Terri used the same strike that Gawain did except that she came in from a jump but the sound of the grass swaying was enough to spring Gawain back into motion. His head twitched around robotically before allowing his aqua blue eyes to peer out locking onto something.

Sidestepping to the right, Gawain let go of the sword with his left hand and allowed his right hand to rear back before shifting grip quickly to use the ridge of the sword and swung without restraint straight into the small but open section between where Terri's chestplate met the skirt armour cracking something on impact and throwing her body aside. Bringing his left hand straight up, it glowed in black energy before exploding in the palm of his hand and shooting out 7 magic bullets that shot towards Terri.

Moving back to his original stance, all in one swift motion, Gawain watched as his opponent cut down all 7 bullets while re-correcting her own centre of gravity and placed her feet back down on the ground skidding backwards to slow her motion.

"You! What kind of swordsman are you?"

Gawain's body relaxed and stood up straight before answering her.

Gawain tapped his right foot on the ground twice before hurling the sword right towards his opponent and disappearing. Only to reappear again, the same distance away but exactly 45 degrees to both her left and right before both Gawain's summoned the same sword again and throwing them both at the exact same time and then disappearing again.

As the first sword was parried straight up into the air, Gawain appeared up in the air with his wings out grabbing onto the sword, only to make a full swing of his arm and launching the sword straight back towards Terri.

The second and then third sword were both deflected up into the air, the two clones of Gawain appearing again only to copy the first Gawain again making a full 360 swing and throwing the two swords at the same time right back at her, both being thrown just as she deflected the first.

Catching the first sword again, the original Gawain instantly launched it straight back at Terri yet again only furthering the frustration of his opponent. Yet this time, she fell into the hole that Gawain had planned for and instead of prolonging the game by deflecting the two swords back into the air again, Terri knocked them both down to the ground and planned to do the same with the original sword that was coming back her way with most of her concentration on the sword.

Gawain then appeared again, only low against the ground now and directly behind Terri already in motion. Spinning round, he swiped Terri's legs from under her and spiralled back up using his bodies momentum to narrowly dodge his own thrown sword, grabbing onto it's handle as it spurred past, spiralling back down using the momentum of the spin as his force and brought the pommel of the sword straight into the chest armour of his opponent.

"Decisive blow! Gawain wins."

With a single click of his fingers, the three Laevateinns disappeared away and Gawain stood up while helping Terri to her feet. In her frustration, Terri quickly pulled down Gawain's hood only to see a smirk looking right back at her.

"What kind of swordsman are you?!"

Her words were grounded out in anger as Gawain's smirk just grew.

"An anything goes Swordsman. I'm a devil, why should I play fair? You are a devil, why should I play fair? I'm a mischievous teenager, why should I play fair? This was a friendly spar, why should I be chivalrous? I didn't know you wouldn't be chivalrous, so-"

"Why should you play fair. I get it!"

"Yaaay~ Aniki won~! I told ya Sona-chan, Aniki is the bestest!"

Gawain then gave his opponent a toothed grin that told her the whole score and just as Gawain walked past Terri to return to his King's side she blurted out her revelation.

"You only fought like that because of what Rias-sama said?!"

Gawain didn't bother to stop to answer but continued to walk back to his King.

"Milady told me to show you who was boss and to do so, I didn't play fair. So in turn. Milady told me to show who was boss, why should I play fair?"

"You damn brat!"

…

On the other side of the Sitri castle, in a small garden area reserved for tea parties, Gawain sat beside his King on a chair definitely too small for him next to a table that was too small for his legs. With both Sona Sitri and Tsubaki Shinra opposite him, he wore a soft smile as he looked at the slightly irritated Sitri heiress.

"Milady, was that spar to your liking?"

"Of course, you beat her~!"

The ever-so-cheerful Rias responded in her ever-so-cheerful way.

"Then I am glad. Embarrassing her wasn't in vain."

* Stare! *

Sona Sitri however wasn't so happy about that fact. She had grown up knowing that beside her older sister, Terri was the strongest in the family and was one of the best Swordsman/woman in the Underworld but she just lost so someone more than half her age and through underhanded methods, only for the amusement of an 11-year old girl.

Turning to look at his King, Gawain whispered loudly.

"Milady, I think your best friend likes me."

As Sona's glare turned into a hateful glare, Rias giggled.

"I think so too Aniki~!"

* * *

><p><strong>Writing Gawain's character is something i really enjoy doing and am having fun with.<br>Despite the fact that he is mature, loyal and polite, he also has a childish and mischievous side that he is happy to show-off.  
>It's fun to write because it doesn't restrict me. Like i said in the AN to the previous chapter, he fits himself to the fight.  
>And so he won simply through catching her off-guard, confusing her with what he was doing, leading her in.<br>You show someone who is boss by finishing the fight quickly and effectively.  
><strong>

**And to answer about the whole harem thing and whether it'll take from Issei.  
>The answer to that is yes it will but i will be making up for it. With his change in placement, comes others to him.<br>Issei will have a decent amount taken from him, and also a decent amount given to him. And not all taken from him are being put into Gawain's harem.  
>Like i said before, i'm really trying for something different here and am changing up everything.<strong>

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


	3. Colours of Sound

**Day 3 of 15.  
>Family sure are persistent at this time of year :**

* * *

><p>Two years had now passed by since Gawain had started his service to his King and his popularity in the Underworld was increasing at a more than steady state. His spar with Lord Sitri's Queen was uploaded to the Devil's own version of the human world's internet. Even videos of his spars with Souji Okita went live as well and his ability and power as a swordsmen despite his young age were becoming known rapidly, and quiet talks started to creep up about his potential, the possibility of him being a threat and whether allowing Rias Gremory, who had just turned 12, to keep custody of the 17-year old descendant who had the weapons to destroy a lot of the remaining devil race if he so wished. But every time it came up in council, it was completely debunked. Gawain's loyalty being the single thing that all devils couldn't deny, especially when he had all Four Maous backing him.<p>

And as per orders of his King, he was currently out and about in the capital of the Gremory Territory doing his rounds. Firmly gripped in his left hand was the present that Sirzechs Lucifer gave him for his birthday, a weapon that Gawain treasured nearly as much as the feminine necklace that Rias had got for him. Dressed up in his casual attire yet again, Gawain's fingers wriggled slightly as he kept his grip on the weapon that resided in the grip of his left hand.

It was an experimental weapon that Ajuka Beelzebub had created, and this was the first working copy. Up till this point in time, Devils would create a weapon out of their desired element but with this experimental weapon they were able to summon a completely solid weapon that holds or fires their desired attribute all in all making it a stronger weapon. The name for it was 'Realiser' because it was linked to the Devil's ability to imagine, you imagine the weapon and it's appearance and it will form for you in your hand with the ability to morph whenever you wished for it to do so. Gawain liked it because it was strong enough to keep up with some of his other weapons but it also allowed him to prioritize it and keep his stronger weapons as more of a secret to protect his liege.

"Get back here kid!"

Jarring his head from the left side of the street, Gawain's head turned straight to the right side and saw a small person with snow white hair running out of a bakery with a number of different food in it's arms.

"Shopkeep! Keep the change!"

Throwing in a wad of notes to the store, Gawain promptly followed the head of white hair.

Passing straight through into a back alley, Gawain watched as the criminal multiplied. This time a black-haired assailant appearing into view, pushing onto the smaller, white haired one's back forcing the child to move. It was only fleeting but Gawain caught sight that they were both female when they looked back after catching his signature. The hazel eyes of the older criminal widened seeing him and was quick, quicker than Gawain had expected to pick up the white-haired girl and bound off in what Gawain saw as a cat-like manner.

Without a word, Gawain pushed off from his position himself disregarding the people coming to take a look behind him using his magic to burst him forward, whipping up streams of wind as he launched forwards through the narrow alley and into the surrounding forest of the Gremory Capital.

The moment Gawain got into the forest, he knew he was going to be spending a while either following after them or ending up looking through a number of different tracks in the forest. It was dark, darker than he'd like especially given that the main and bigger assailant was clad in black, his only hope was catching a glimpse of her white skin or the youngster's white hair. Running through the forest himself, all he could hear was the standard wildlife outside of the leaves rustling from his movements. There was nothing to give him information on where his target had disappeared to, only the brief but questionable glimpses of white set Gawain on his trek through the forest.

One after another the wildlife in the forest fell, from wolf to bear, over-sized scorpion to Minotaur. They fell from a single shot of the realized shotgun that Gawain formed in his left hand, a buckshot worth of corona planted into their bodies charred straight through their body wasting their bones away like their fur. Even the surrounding trees weren't safe from harm, while contained from a potential towering inferno, they were not safe from the initial strikes of each shot having holes dotted throughout their trunks.

Every time Gawain was able to catch up again with the criminals, they'd change their course in the dense forest and temporarily lose him again with their more advanced knowledge of the forest. But the two girls were unlucky, once Gawain had started something for his King there was no stopping him until he was done with it. Rather than getting frustrated with his lack of making any real headway, Gawain only doubled his persistence. Summoning his familiar to hand, the brown feathered hawk flew up into the canopy of the trees and shot off to find the targets allowing Gawain to take off in another direction.

…

"...Nee-chan, are we safe-nya?"

"Not yet-nya. Just keep quiet-nya."

A silenced enveloped the two cat-like sisters.

The seconds felt like minutes. The small rustling of leaves caused their bodies to tense up further than it should. The gentle breeze was anything but comforting to them. The piercing chirp of the hawk just nerved them further.

"So this is where you two got to."

The younger of the two sisters jumped in her skin at the sound of the male voice. At the entranceway of the cave stood Gawain, not annoyed but relieved that the game of hide-and-seek had now ended.

"I thought myself as a master of hide-and-seek after all the times Milady wanted to play but I stand mistaken, I actually had to use May to be able to locate you two. Kudos for that."

"What do you want-nya?!"

"Not what you are expecting really. I just want to know your reasons for stealing food. I've already paid for what was stolen, so indulge me. Let me know that I did a good deed and paid for your next meal."

The black haired girl stood up and glared at Gawain who just let the 'Realizer' shift back into it's natural state. The white haired girl was currently hiding behind her older sister, edging her head out from behind so she could stare at Gawain.

"You! You are that guy the nobles are calling 'Sir Gawain' right-nya?"

Gawain let out a dry chuckle at the title. Being called Sir rather than -sama made him feel like the person who started that notion was someone close to home.

"That I am, Neko. I am Gawain Rheon, the Queen of Rias Gremory. Now tell me why you and your kin was forced to steal and not pay, i'd rather not kill you where you two stand."

"You think you can kill me-nya?"

"You are too agile for me to apprehend but I am fast enough to make the first move. I wonder if you are fast enough to both grab your sister and then dodge a fatal strike from the Holy Sword Galatine."

Gawain's gaze was passive as he looked at the black haired neko. She faltered, the people of the Gremory territory knew that he did indeed have that weapon. But it was the only one they knew that he had, though Gawain wasn't trusted enough to know the whole story.

"We are alone-nya. We aren't devils so no one will hire us-nya."

"Then I will."

"W-What-nya?!"

"I am the Queen to the Gremory Heiress. I am well off and with my quirks, I rarely even use my money. The only things I would use it on come standard with being Milady's Queen. You look similar in age to me, you are agile but I can't feel your full power. I would like to spar with you but as the only one in Gremory who can freely keep an eye on Milady's own territory along with doting on her before anything else, I'm busy. You can live in the castle with us, free food and I will pay you for working for me so you can thus buy anything extra you want. Your younger sister is slightly younger than Milady, I can't always play with Milady as the Elder Council is somewhat scared of me and my Galatine so they are trying to prove my loyalty so I can see myself being put on missions in the near future. I would very much like for her to be Milady's playmate and I will also pay for her doing that too. As Milady is a Gremory, I can safely vouch that your younger sister won't be harmed or taken advantage of."

Gawain then let out a small sigh while bobbing his head to either side before speaking again.

"But Milady is somewhat eccentric. And after I tell her my report, your ability to elude me for so long will interest her greatly as she has full trust in my abilities. She may ask you both to join her peerage alongside me. That in turn would mean you have a home and new family, plus you'd get paid by doing the jobs i'd be paying you to do but without me having to pay you. I sounds better but you'd have to become a devil. It's up to you."

"..._Why-nya?"_

The black-haired neko's voice barely reached Gawain's ears, all he could do was raise his eyebrow before her voice got even louder.

"Why would you offer a job so easily-nya?!"

"Because I'm willing to put my trust in you. I'm willing to trust my gut in that you only stole to provide for your younger sister."

"Why-nya?"

"Perhaps I have a soft spot for orphans. Perhaps I prefer cats to dogs. Maybe I'm just too naive for my own good. It's up to you what you believe."

A short beep permeates through the air causing Gawain to look at the watch around his wrist.

"Time to return huh. You have two days for if you wanna take me up on that offer. I'll inform the guards at the gate that you may or may not turn up. I hope to see you again."

Turning on his heel, Gawain instantly jumps up into the sky bringing his wings out to return to the Gremory castle.

…

The deadline had come two days later, and nearing the end of the day as he was on late night patrol of the outskirts of the capital Gawain was called back to the castle which he responded to rapidly by teleporting instead of running there this time. Instantly making his way into the throne room, Gawain's eyes met with those of the black and white neko sisters who were currently off to the side of the throne room under Grayfia's supervision. And at the head of the room was Lord and Lady Gremory with his King sitting on Lady Gremory's lap getting her crimson hair braided.

"Gawain, these two cats said that you offered them a job? Is this true?"

"That it is Lord Gremory. I met them while out on patrol, caught the younger one stealing some food that I promptly paid for just before giving chase."

"And you are offering a job to criminals? A job to be Rias' playmate?"

Lord Gremory was currently trying his best to keep his tone of voice from getting out of hand, he was willing to trust that Gawain had a reason.

"That is correct. I feel that within coming days I will need help with doing my duty of patrolling the areas. I also feel that Milady would be better off with spending more time with someone closer to her age. While Milady does have Sona-sama, it's rare that they can meet."

"And what made you think that offering the jobs to two criminals that you happened to stumble upon was the best option?"

"Because not all people fall low because of things they did. Some people are forced into it. And I trust what my gut is telling me about these two."

"And if you turn out to be wrong?"

"Then I will have failed my King and will face any punishment necessary for my actions."

Both Gawain and Lord Gremory just stared into each other's eyes for nearly a minute without faltering before Lord Gremory just sighed into his hand.

"Gawain, couldn't you have at least informed us beforehand?"

"I had informed Milady after giving her my report."

"She told us, but not until these two actually appeared here not too long ago. I'm hesitant whether I should feel happy or not that some of your quirks are rubbing off on her."

"As long as it's not the decorations to her room then you should feel at ease about that, Lord Gremory."

"Mou~ Gawain. I've told you numerous times to call me Tou-sama."

"I've also said many times, I have no idea what that means. I'll stick to my native tongue Lord Gremory."

Gawain's expression stayed soft as he looked straight at Lord Gremory's pouting face with an impassive smile.

"Alright then Gawain, until my wife and I can trust them they are to be under strict supervision at all times. Seen as you brought them here, they can sleep with you for tonight."

"Are you sure that's a good thing?"

"Your desks are bound to be more comfortable than the floor right?"

Gawain just simply shrugged his shoulders in defeat, he couldn't deny that one.

"Thank you Lord Gremory."

Once he bowed, Gawain turned on his heel and started to walk out of the throne room only using his right hand to get the attention of the two Neko to get them to follow him, which they did after being pushed forwards by Grayfia. And trek through the Gremory castle they did, especially with how late it was in the day for the Neko siblings, it was a bit of a way to travel.

The peerage servant quarters were on a different wing to where Rias lived in the family wing alongside her parents and for the sole reason of solidarity, Gawain picked the room that was right at the back at the end of the corridor and in turn the wing itself. Due to this it was also quite a decent sized room that was more or less guest quarters but a room that was still as viable to the peerage as the others.

"Blondie-nya, how much farther? Itaah!"

Gawain started to turn as soon as he heard her voice start but was only in time to see the harisen smack down on the top of her head thanks to Grayfia.

"It's Sir Gawain or Gawain-sama to you Cat. He is being gracious enough to give you a place to stay along with food, address him with respect."

"Not much further Blackie-nya. If you are complaining about the distance then you are going to complain about my room."

Not bothering to deal with Grayfia's antics towards people being respectful to him, Gawain replied in the same manner that the black-haired neko did even copying the girl's tone when he said '-nya'. For all that Gawain was respectful and mature, his childish side really did come out at the most opportune times.

"Nyaa~?"

"Nyaaaaa~!"

Gawain replied instantly, if it could be called replying and what the black haired Neko did could even be called asking something. And to that Gawain brought his hand up to his chin as he very obviously mused about the possibility of buying himself cat ears and a tail, perhaps even buying his King a pair as well.

And when they finally happened upon Gawain's door a new fact became obvious. At his own discretion during the time he moved in from over two years ago, he had got rid of the single doors and put in a double doors to his own room, his own bedroom at that if it could be called a bedroom.

"Gawain-sama, when did you put in the second door?"

"Do you remember the time I got into a cursing war with myself?"

"I do. Sirzechs-sama utilized it well to play with Lady Rias, that was around 7 months ago correct?"

"That it was. My first time doing construction work while it does look professionally made, you should have seen my left hand afterwards."

"Does that mean that you were the cause for that letter from the Angels?"

"Yeah, I cursed at him a whole lot."

"And the hell-cat outbreak in the castle?"

"That was also me."

"Then how about the hawks carrying around ceremonial swords, dropping them like an icicle barrage?"

"That was also... no wait, that one wasn't actually me. May seems to have the ability to summon herself whenever, still stumps me to this very day how she was able to get all the other hawks from the Familiar Forest through the circle too. Surely I would have felt the impact on my magic reserves along with the amount of Ceremonial swords."

Gawain spoke with a shrug, completely nonchalant about the fact that he hoards animals in his room. And for some reason, the animals he hoards never destroy his room but every other place in the Gremory castle. Strangely it was a quirk that both Lord and Lady Gremory were ok with, more so than his décor choice for his room.

With the three girls stood behind him, he took two steps forward and push his doors open before his eyes widened considerably.

"Oh hell!"

Gawain's voice was the only thing they heard before they were consumed by an onslaught of fluffy and cuddly white rabbits that poured out from his room like there was an endless supply inside.

"Really Gawain-sama? Rabbits this time."

"Now now Grayfia. I'm the perfect Knight to a 12 year old girl, these animals keep me sane. The Lord-OW!-knows that you don't help me with your not so subtle hints. I'd blurt it out but there is a child in our midst so I can't."

Since Gawain had turned 16 and whenever Rias wasn't around, the Gremory castle had learned the fact that Gawain swore...a lot. And it was something that made Gawain fear the legendary harisen that Grayfia possesses.

"G-Gawain-sama!"

"Grayfia, keep that embarrassed expression that you most definitely have on right now. It's not something I want to miss. Hopefully these blasted rabbits didn't shit all over my carpet and drapes."

…

Over an hour later and they had collected all of the rabbits that had escaped from Gawain's room, totalling close to the 500 mark. How that many fit into just his room when the bathroom door was closed is a mystery and will more than likely stay that way as well. It's probably better that way too.

Gawain's antics during the retrieval was nothing short of amusing for the two Neko who got to sit on the sidelines as Gawain forced Grayfia into helping him collect the, as Gawain called them, Spies of the Clouds. Gawain didn't bother to explain anything further from that and Grayfia in her infinite wisdom didn't see it necessary to learn why he called them that.

Simply put, the rabbits were contained before being released back into the forests surrounding the Gremory Capital.

Back in front of Gawain's room the two Neko stood peering into the dimly lit room trying to understand the reason why the only furniture in the room were black desks covered in crimson cloth, and even more confused as to why broken desks were used as part of the décor.

"Blondie-nya, this is your room?"

"Isn't it cool? After all the nights I spent sleeping on cold slabs in the various churches round the world, these desks are a great comfort."

"Gawain-sama, please refrain from insinuating that this room didn't come with a bed that was large enough for 3 people on."

"Grayfia...Where is your sense of adventure? Having my room like this means I'm ready for any situation. Whether I got some paperwork to deal with or someone who has a fantasy of being bent over a desk. I'm sorted."

This was the third of Gawain's quirks or as Lord Gremory had put it, how Gawain reacted to his body going through puberty, It was unknown whether Gawain would persist to the randomness in the thought of bending someone over a desk but the Gremory clan just let him and that thought be.

"Gawain-sama, I didn't tutor you so you would have a perverted mind."

"It's your fault though Grayfia. How is a male student meant to concentrate properly when I have a teacher who looks like you? Did you want me to learn or did you want me to stare at you the whole time?"

Despite the difference in their ranks and the personality of each other, the synergy between Grayfia and Gawain was actually pretty good. While it seemed like they just argued a lot, it was harmless banter for the most part where Grayfia calls Gawain immature and Gawain complains that Grayfia is too attractive and has stunted his ability to become smarter.

"You got rid of a comfortable bed for these desks-nya?"

"That I did."

"Awesome-nya!"

"...Awesome-nya!"

For the first time since arriving, the white haired neko spoke up straight after her sister did and in the same excited tone.

"Haha! See Grayfia, the two Neko know the truth!"

Turning directly to Grayfia, Gawain pushed out his chest and pointed the index finger of his right hand straight at her.

"Now it's just you. Lady Gremory doesn't care anymore but you still have yet to make note of it. You shall love the design Grayfia! Whether you like it or not, it'll happen."

"It's…It's very...new age?"

Gawain just stared at Grayfia the moment she mumbled it out, Gawain stared at her like she was the most idiotic person in the world.

"New age? Black Neko, take her right side. She is staying with us tonight."

"Hai Blondie-sama!"

Before Grayfia could even voice her complaints, both of her arms were snatched up into the grips of Gawain and the black haired neko. Gawain even went as far as placing his free hand over her mouth and looking directly into her eyes.

"Don't fight it Grayfia. Lord Gremory knows it. Milady knows it. Black neko and White neko knows it. And deep in your chest you know it too. The desks and the drapes are awesome."

The way Grayfia gave up was almost like Gawain was uttering it like a curse and the desks were some sort of ritualistic medium.

Then with no kicking and screaming, almost like Gawain had knocked Grayfia out with chloroform, they dragged Grayfia into his room effortlessly allowing the doors to close behind after them. The sound of the doors locking echoing through the dimly lit room.

"Nekos, you can take a side each if you wish or a single side to both of you. The head of the room at the end of the carpet is mine, I need it all to myself to make sure Grayfia understands the greatness of my fashion choice for this very room."

* * *

><p><strong>Does it end here? NO!<br>You'll have to wait till tomorrow though :P  
><strong>

**Honestly, i still have no idea how long it'll take to get to relative canon time.  
>And we hit more changes. Coming in hot and heavy. The two nekos and now Grayfia in proper.<br>Just for mentioning, this is before Kuroka even met the guy she went beserk on.  
>Gawain is definitely faster and stronger right now but not as agile, he'd only hit through using an wide-area attack.<br>And the only ones he has would kill them both.**

**Come to the point in the A/N that i've completely forgot what else to say.  
>Argh! I'll edit if i remember.<strong>

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


	4. Content Ice

**4/15!**

* * *

><p>When Grayfia awoke the morning after the two Nekos arrived at the castle, she was both confused and slightly giddy. Confused as to why she didn't remember why she fell asleep and when but giddy to the fact of where she woke up. While not being the strongest ice user in the Underworld, she was however known as the Ice Queen alongside the Strongest Queen. It was a troubling dilemma for Grayfia, continue to hold her picture perfect stoic expression or allow herself to indulge in the helpless and asleep Gawain who was right beside her, currently with both of his arms wrapped around her waist. It was enough to completely dissuade her strength from helping her cut loose.<p>

But what troubled Grayfia the most was that for the first time in a while, she woke up strangely refreshed. And once that sensation rushed through her body she froze and the last words she heard Gawain utter to her the night before. She felt great, possibly even awesome and that's what made her freeze. How could a thin piece of cloth over cheaply made desks allow someone to feel so revitalized after waking up in the morning. It made less sense than most fiction.

"Gawain-sama, wake up. I must start on my day's work."

"Muhmuhu...Leave it. The maids will be here soon to try and wake me like they do every other day. You'll be fine...Muhmuhu."

'Muhmuhu'? The way Gawain said it didn't even make it to a cute splutter from just rising, it was just weird.

"Nekos, you awake?"

"Nyaaaa~~ These desks are bliss-nya."

"Bliss-nya."

The soft chorus of the younger neko followed the notion that the older neko gave, making it all hit Grayfia even further.

"Ahh Nekos, I forgot to ask your names."

"Kuroko-nya."

"Shirone-nya."

"...Coloured sound? Is that even a thing?"

Grayfia sighed at Gawain's lack of tact, his brain never worked before 10am and with her body clock it was approximately 6am right now. And with Gawain's brain unable to begin properly before 10am, it made Grayfia wonder why he asked the maids to wake him up so early when he not only ignores them but can't do a lot during this time. Gawain was a most peculiar mystery to her.

Unable to fight back, Grayfia found herself being rolled onto her back and to find Gawain now lying on top of her, his sleeping face firmly lodged in between her bust. And the action just completely stripped away the thought of going to do work, conceding to Gawain's strange brilliance Grayfia wrapped her own arms around him before allowing herself some more time to sleep.

When Grayfia awoke yet again later in the day, she was filled with bliss when she immediately noticed that Gawain was still sleeping soundly on top of her not having budged a single inch but there was a problem for her, she caught sight of a light that was definitely too bright to be a part of Gawain's room and when she turned, her eyes widened in shock and embarrassment was quick to follow.

"See-nya. The Ice Queen gave in-nya."

And there Kuroka, the black cat stood, in the doorway to Gawain's room with her younger sister Shirone by her side, and the Gremory family standing just outside the doorway looking into the room. The two siblings of Gremory both jumping for joy, Lord Gremory watched on with a slight smirk as Lady Gremory showed a motherly smile.

"Grayfia, you finally told him."

"She didn't-nya."

'Damn cat.'

"Blondie-nya forced her in telling her that she'll learn the awesomeness of the desks-nya. To not let her escape, he slept with her in his grasp-nya."

The sound of a deep breath being took echoed through the room as Gawain wretched his head free from the comfortable bosom that he used as his pillow. He looked straight down at Grayfia and then turned to look at those by his door and he blanked, the most confused expression took to his features and then he went to speak but stopped himself at the last minute. He visibly gave up with the shake of his head before just putting his head straight back down into Grayfia's chest, the sound of him sleeping peacefully eliciting the room moments later.

"Yay for Aniki~"

"Yay for Grayfia~"

""Yaaaaay~~""

The two Gremory siblings let out their happiness in a makeshift chant, the only thing being reminisce was the lack of pink pompoms to be shook.

And it pained Grayfia that she couldn't smack Sirzechs with her harisen for not only being childish, but being childish about her. But she put up with it, she currently had what she wanted even if nothing was official yet and he hadn't even made a notion towards starting something. If there was anything that devils had in spades, then it was time.

Thus it lead to the two older females of the Gremory family to deal with the end. Both Lady Gremory and Karissa Andrealphus, took their respective husbands by the ear and forcibly dragged them away. Rias Gremory hitching a ride by jumping onto her older brother's chest.

"Watch your back Cat."

"NyaNyaNya~"

Kuroka then toddled off herself with Shirone in hand, not bothering to take the threat properly.

"Grayfia..."

Her breath then hitched, Gawain had did it again. Used his famed ability to make it look like he was sleeping when he wasn't, even doing a detailed look over his body would look like he was asleep but he wasn't. It gave Gawain the ability to get out of a lot of things by just simply falling asleep.

"Yes Gawain-sama?"

"Sounds like you have something to _tell_ me."

The room was then met with silence, a silence that Grayfia was too stumped and probably embarrassed to interrupt. The stoic types always interested Gawain more, their embarrassed expression always meant so much more.

"Who would have known. The Strongest Queen had an interest in younger guys. What was that term again...Ah! Cougar, that's it. Grayfia is a cougar. I'm currently 17 and you are an age that I would be hit if I knew and mentioned it but nevertheless you are a fully-fledged adult and so that means one thing. You have Ephebophilia."

The tease however was a little too much, even if it was just a set-up to whatever he was going to say next.

"But I'm ok with it. I like you too Grayfia."

"Eh?"

"I said 'I like you too'...That was what you wanted to tell me right? That you liked me?"

"Y-Yes, it was Gawain-sama."

"So I was right. Then as of this minute, this very soft pair of breasts are mine. Itaa!"

Gawain was then forced to mumble in place as he sported a war wound from the strike of Grayfia's deadly harisen, a weapon made out of paper that was stronger than steel.

And that was it, as simple as that. Too often do people stumble around wondering what if or whether its ok to love said person or to wonder if they'd even accept. Just tell them, either they accept or decline but the thing is, no matter their response it's always one that allows you to move on. They say yes and you can go forward to enjoying your life with that person. They say no and you can move on from them and do things you enjoy, possibly even meeting the right one. If you hesitate then you are going to stumble and potentially lose them before you can even put up with a fight.

That was Gawain's philosophy when it came to dealing with other people. Do not be shy even if it may seem a stupid question. If it ends up being so then so what, you may have been embarrassed but you still learnt something more and that's something you can be proud of. To be hesitant or to second guess yourself makes you weak in Gawain's mind.

"With that notion made, it would be best that we got on with our day-to-day things."

…

"But Aniki, I don't waaaaannaaaaa~!"

"Milady, even if you don't like him you should still speak to him."

"Aniki, you are meant to be on my side."

"I am Milady, remember when you told me to give him a taste of Victory? I forced his mouth open and shoved Galatine down his throat. Raiser Phoenix has become rather scared of me, Sirzechs-sama has said that he even flinches at the sound of my name. And remember Milady, I did it in front of a number of guests when we held our New Years party."

"Mou~~ You know what I mean Aniki."

Currently, Gawain was carrying his young master through the Gremory Castle. With her thrown over his shoulder, he walked through the castle complete in his armour, the sound of his boots clicking and clacking against the ground beneath him echoing through the hallways.

Rias though, was currently sporting a new look. Rather it was more like the only hairstyle that Gawain could do and that was braids. Though Gawain had to say, he did a damn good job with her hair.

"Mah mah Milady, the quicker you see him the earlier you can leave. Anywho, just put up with it for now and when you come of age challenge him to a Rating Game for your freedom. Then we can ceremoniously shove Holy Sword after Holy Sword after Cursed Sword after Divine sword into his body."

"Yaaaay~~!"

Rias' reply was rather unfortunate, she has got too used to the idea of people experiencing pain after being around Gawain. Gawain spent a lot of time musing about how to defeat people in a fight, Rias just had a penchant for asking what was on his mind solely at those times. You could actually call that lucky.

"Where are the two Nekos anyway Milady? Shouldn't they be around to find out about who their new master is supposed to be getting married to?"

"Training~ It's better this way~"

And truthfully that it was. Allowing Kuroka in a room with nobles that weren't from the Gremory clan was a very stupid thing to do because either she will curse, flirt or steal and perhaps maybe even belittle if Gawain is in a good enough mood to join in.

It was only two months into their stay at the Gremory castle and the two Nekos had already joined Rias' peerage but it was also at a time that the Elder Council had forced Gawain into doing a mission that forced him to fight 3 S-Class strays at once. Gawain was pissed when he returned from that and not because of the mission he was forced into but because his armour had got badly damaged during the fight, near enough completely destroyed chestplate. A full 2 days of expending his magic solely on it to fix it. He was one pissed off Welshman.

"WE HAVE ARRIVED~!"

Bursting through the large doors to the living area of the Gremory castle, Gawain went feet first with no care in the world with his young master still over his shoulders but now in a very cheerful façade.

"Gawain, you brought her … and smiling."

"A Saber never fails to brighten his King's day Lord Gremory."

"You've been forced into watching that anime again haven't you?"

"Well...the honest answer would be yes there."

Waltzing into the room, Gawain plopped his young master down in between her parents on the glamorous sofa that was directly opposite another sofa which held the Phoenix trio. The Lord and Lady of Phoenix and then the 3rd son, Raiser Phoenix, a boy who was the same age as Gawain but completely irked by his presence.

To Gawain's left though was a troubled Grayfia, a Grayfia who was paying her dues for getting to excited. Gawain was easygoing for the most part but bondage was one of those things he was never going near and so currently he was giving her the cold shoulder, more than likely why he had the time to do Rias' hair. Something which the lovely Lady Phoenix noted on.

"Oh Rias, trying a new look? It suits you."

"Thanks~ Aniki did it for me!"

The trio of Phoenixes then looked straight at Gawain dubiously.

"Milady asked me to play with her hair. It was either brush her hair or braid it, so I chose the one I thought would be more pleasant for Milady. Though I must say, all I could do was continue to compliment her adorable little face~"

"You can style hair?"

"Not really Lady Phoenix, all I can do is braid hair. I do suppose I should read up on it for future times so I can allow Milady to broaden her horizons in that aspect. Perhaps I could experiment and see what she looks like with my hair."

"Aniki no~!"

At the abrupt decline, Gawain could only turn his head away and click his tongue in playful annoyance while mumbling under his breath that he was looking forward to it.

The talk however quickly turned into just the two Lords and Ladies conversing between another on goings on in the Underworld, casually bringing Rias or Raiser into the conversation, mainly Rias there. Raiser however was wholeheartedly content at staring at Grayfia in all of her beauty. So utilizing his 'intelligence' Gawain decided to deal with that in his own way.

Gawain actually went about it simply, of course he was smacked by a harisen because of it but it was still pretty simple. He dismissed his gauntlets and the poked Grayfia in the boob before smiling at her when she turned to face him, before she blushed then smacked him while wearing an exasperated expression. Gawain however was defiant in this and he wasn't deterred in the slightest by the blow from the Strongest Queen. His eyes reverted to their hawk-like appearance and they bared down on their targets before drifting down slightly. He was determined to not only embarrass her but anger her as well, possibly the only person stupid enough to do so especially in the manner he had planned.

His hand blurred from by his side and appeared directly in front of Grayfia's stomach, it floated there for what seemed to be an eternity before it shifted and poked Grayfia. With Gawain's eyes directly on the 3 Phoenixes, he saw their expressions widened dramatically completely shocked and confused that they even saw it and then Gawain disappeared only to reappear behind Raiser Phoenix making him shudder violently.

"Ga-wain-sa-ma."

"Oh Grayfia, you sure do look pissed there. Why?"

The though was a simple one and it was also a correct one. He was an idiot.

He may have felt confident in his ability to tease her but it all dropped and was washed away by complete dread as Grayfia slowly pulled out her harisen with an aura that looked to be hell-bent on dealing Gawain his punishment. Despite all that, he was still brave enough to play right up until the end.

"That reminds me. You should really stop calling me '-sama', keep it for the foreplay at least."

Gawain watched as her gears shifted upon his mentioning of foreplay in front of others, but he was at least rewarded with a sigh from Lord Gremory.

"Haaah...Gawain, you really do have a death wish when dealing with Grayfia."

"Just keeping her sharp. Don't want her to get rusty now, I don't want to take the title of Strongest Queen simply because she has got all old and rusty."

"Gawain...You deserve what's coming to you, you know that right?"

"I should say yes but not only do I keep Grayfia oiled up during the day so she works well at night, it also allows me to get some training in. Not many people better for a spar than the Strongest Queen who is hell-bent on destroying you with a Japanese comical prop. Anyhow Milady, remember what I said earlier. Ciao~!"

With a short wave of a salute, Gawain ran...no, more like he fled the scene with Grayfia in tow. Leaving the door wide open in their wake, shouting voices reverberated throughout the castle.

"Blondie-nya, did you pinch her nipples again-nya?"

"Not the right time of day for that kinda kink Kuroka-nya. I poked her breasts and stomach before saying some things, you should do it sometime. One hell of a training session."

"Nah-nya. I like to live-nya."

"Gawain!"

And back in the living area, both Lord and Lady Gremory sighed at the exact same time for the exact same length of time before shaking their heads in union.

"That Gawain...One more reason to hate the church."

"Isn't that the truth dear. Maybe they knew this would happen and abstained him from being able to relax or do anything other than fight and train."

"Well, let's just be happy for him. Grayfia has been doing less work because of it."

…

That night, Gawain had returned to his room of desks victorious at defeating the Harisen Demon simply by being able to outrun her. Thanks to his constant missions involving forests along with utilizing his familiar's eyesight, traversing forests was almost second nature to him so losing Grayfia became simple. Though it should be said that Grayfia chased him for near enough 8 hours straight, going through the Gremory capital before finding themselves in the surrounding forests.

"This moment calls for one of those football chants. 'We are the champions~ We are the champions~!' Hmm...That was how it goes, I think. Or was that the Queen song?"

"Hah...hah...hah. Gawain, you have too much energy."

Since entering into a relationship with Gawain, Grayfia found herself being led back to his room every night and forced to spend blissful nights on the most comfortable desks in the end and she soon started to go there on her own accord.

"Ehehe~"

"I wasn't complimenting you Gawain."

"Ehhh!?"

Gawain was truly astonished that he wasn't being praised because it damn well sounded like it to him, as the teenager in puberty that he was.

"Anywho, Milady challenged Raiser to a Rating Game to get outta the wedding and without me their in the room it seems like he got cocky and readily agreed to it without thought. He must'a really liked me shoving Galatine down his throat last time."

"You evaded me while chatting to Rias-sama on the phone? I don't even see why I am surprised anymore."

"I should ask though Grayfia, were you wearing your battle panties for a reason today? If so, you better not be trying to force me into bondage again."

"W-Wha? When did you?!"

Gawain looked honestly perplexed as to why she didn't know that he knew.

"When you jumped the cliff after me. Isn't it pretty cliché for the first jumper to latch onto a vine or a plant root after jumping off? Black panties are good in my book."

"That's when a car plummets off of a cliff, people don't chase each other off of cliffs!"

"That's goes without saying Grayfia duh!"

**Thwack!**

That brought the tally of Grayfia hitting Gawain over the head with a harisen up to 88 already in his two years with Gremory, but counts up to his 36th since getting into a relationship with Grayfia. It could honestly make you question whether they could work together.

* * *

><p><strong>Honestly, was the chapter expected to go this way?<br>I definitely didn't expect it, kinda weird how it all just flowed for me.  
><strong>

**In my mind, Gawain is a seriously broken person but is able to play on it for the most part.  
>But with how i say and mean broken, it's more like he was never born with all the pieces together.<br>He is slowly putting himself together as he gets older.**

**Next chapter though, it took a lot out of me to do.**

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


	5. Troubles of Strength

**Number 5!**

* * *

><p>At the age of 13, Rias Gremory was really starting to come into her own especially with a tutor who was 5 years her senior and very imaginative. Gawain Rheon was proud of both his pupil and his master. Watching Gawain in how he did what he does best and watching the anime she loved so much, it gave her a particular drive that it really shouldn't have done but others were thankful that it did.<p>

It inspired her to train with what she had and to also learn other things, the most mentionable thing being swordplay. Out of all types out there, Gawain decided to bet on the future and to teach her how to wield a Rapier. And while it sounded wrong to do so, Gawain taught her by using one of his cursed swords. It was a no name sword that morphed into it's possessor's weapon by the troubles in their heart, but as Gawain could wield all weapons as their master the cursed weapons only activated their curse if someone other than him took hold of it. And because of Gawain's loyalty and desire to serve a King, these weapons also obeyed Rias like they did him but there was that subtle difference in experience which showed in the power of the swords.

Utilizing the power of the cursed blade, they transformed it into a demonic-style rapier.

But not only her training was going well. She was also growing as a person, both physically and figuratively to which made both Gawain and Sirzechs Lucifer happy. Their photo albums of the adorable Rias Gremory grew in size, no more was the adorable petite sized Rias Gremory because she was growing in not only her height but also in her three sizes. She was starting to mature beautifully as a woman and it made the two males overjoyed. The young girl that spoke to them cheerfully with a wide smile was growing right in front of their eyes, and it saddened them ever-so-slightly. She wasn't their adorable little girl anymore.

Still, it made Gawain happier this way. He got to see his King mature, he got to help her mature and put a bit of his own way into her. It also allowed him to wield one of the few rapiers he could find details on to even use. The Northern Lion, a name he came up with himself because of what the person who wielded the rapier was called. King Gustav the 2nd, a King who unlike many others of his time and even years after leaded from the front, he also forewent the chain mail and wore a thick leather bodice. A man who was even admired by Napoleon Bonaparte, a true Knight King and most definitely a Hero of his homeland of Sweden. A man who was most definitely worthy of his station.

And it made Gawain swell up with anticipation of using the sword. It was more a symbol than the actual weapon itself but it didn't mean it was weaker. Even with the lack of anything special to it, it could stand up against those that were special. Gawain could feel the wealth of experience within the blade, even with it's lack of soul.

It was a very simple kind of greatness, very efficient in it's ability to be used. Very efficient at piercing through the air and it's target. But it refused to be slowed down, it even rejected it's calling if Gawain was to call it when wearing his armour despite it's lack of true weight when protecting him. It was a simple mentality, agile and fast, enough so that your defense is in evasion than the strength of your armour. And that made it the perfect weapon for Gawain to wield when sparring with his King to further instruct her, with a weapon like a rapier, agility is more needed than any form of defense.

Not only did Rias Gremory learn from it, she understood it. Learning to do something is one thing but learning why to do that thing under a circumstance is something else entirely. Because of that was why Rias Gremory was truly maturing as a person rather than maturing by growing.

…

"Milady, can you run it by me one more time why you brought me to Japan?"

"So you can get me Anime and other stuff."

Currently Gawain found himself in a strange café situated in a place called Akihabara in Japan. 3 years, it had been 3 years and while the Anime that Rias and forced upon him had got somewhat stuck in his head, he still truly didn't understand the language even with the 'Language' ability that all devils possessed. More to the point, he didn't understand their obsessions with some things. His case being a current point, a cosplay café.

All the waitresses around him her not wearing waitress attire but were all dressed as a different character of some sort.

"Then why didn't you get Sirzechs-sama to order them for you like he has always done?"

"There are some stuff that Onii-sama won't get me."

The slight annoyance had completely disappeared from Gawain. Her reason wasn't exactly descriptive but it didn't need to be, especially when you were talking to Gawain about subjects like this.

"Eroge...? Ero...ge? Ero? Eros? Hmmm."

Gawain proceeded quickly into thought mode, completely ignoring the waitress who came to the table to deliver their food and drink while passing Gawain a note with a series of numbers on.

"Milady, in return you help me buy a laptop."

"Hai~ Aniki!"

Gawain was hooked. Puberty had it's claws in Gawain so deep he radiated it.

Finally realizing that the food had came, Gawain picked up the white piece of paper and stared at the series of numbers on it. Looking up from the piece of paper, he scoured the store until he found the person who had wrote it, the young woman waving at him with a slight blush of her cheeks. Gawain then ushered her over with a single hand movement.

"Yes sir? How may I help you?"

"You gave me this note but … is this binary?"

"Eh? It's a phone number, you have a phone right?"

"I do."

Gawain then took out his phone from his pocket, although he did it with a stumble, almost like he was nervous about the object that he now had in his hands. Doing the basics of unlocking it and opening up the contacts, he proceeded to then stare at the screen. That was honestly as far as he got with the device, he was pretty technologically challenged after all. All the numbers were programmed in by other people, usually Rias.

Gawain's head then turned slowly, very slowly. Looking up at the waitress in front of him, a look of complete confusion was spread across his features, he gave off the sense that he was sweating due to being so confused and racking his brain on what to do.

"Aniki~! What about Grayfia-nee?!"

"What do you me- Oh."

That's when it hit Gawain.

Outside of the time he spent as an exorcist, he hadn't spent much time in the human world as an actual human, just really a tool used by the church to kill. And this was pretty much the first time he had come to the human world since becoming a devil.

So Gawain decided to deal with it the only way he thought possibly. Utilizing his looks.

Standing up from his seat, he turned towards the waitress who was now looking up at him, a serving tray held close to her chest. Reaching his right hand out, he softly rubbed the back of his index finger against her cheek while gazing softly into her eyes.

"I'm sorry, young miss."

Bringing a sad smile to his face, the collected hearts of all women in the store outside of Rias Gremory felt their hearts thump repeatedly at a fast pace alongside their cheeks deepening to a crimson shade. The waitress started to splutter while slowly bringing her left hand up to her cheek that was still been stroked by Gawain.

Noticing that the girl was bringing up her hand to catch Gawain's, he jumped to do it first. Quickly stopping his caressing of her cheek, he used his right hand to grasp her hand and force it completely open. Slotting his thumb up into her palm and curving his hand around her smaller hand, they were effectively holding each other's hands causing the waitress to stare in awe at her own hand.

Then bringing his left hand up, he cupped the girl's chin and then directed her vision towards his face to which he was now wearing a blissful smile.

"Only look at me … ok?"

Gawain spoke out in such a soft tone, you could see the metaphorical arrow piercing her heart along with all the other hearts of the young maidens in the café. Gawain may have shifted gears in what he was doing initially but nevertheless it worked, as the girl completed overloaded and lost all the strength from her legs and would have dropped to the ground like a puddle of goo if it wasn't for Gawain still holding onto her hand.

But Gawain wasn't completely finished yet. He dropped down along with her, withdrawing his left hand from her chin which ultimately let her fall further but threw it round her back arching her body upwards, throwing her head back and continued to hold her left hand up in the air with his right.

"Are you ok young miss?"

"...Uwaaawaaa.."

Gawain had won. He even found something that could even be potentially more potent than Galatine. His looks coupled with the pretty boy mentality that his master had been forcing him into learning was able to pay off on his first attempt. But it made Gawain understand one more thing. He had just as much to learn from his master than she did from him. IT was a whole growing process.

The problem being with this was that Gawain was already starting to think of how he could apply it to his next target, a target who was most definitely at a difficulty higher than hard-mode. Grayfia Lucifuge. She was older and more experienced than he was so in terms of romantic things, she definitely had the edge in this sort of thing but not for much longer! It was Gawain's time to take the lead!

…

When Gawain stepped into the first store on his list, he initially felt threatened. It was one of the first few times that he actually feared for his own life, but once the occupants of the store saw that he was male and a really attractive one at that his fear disappeared and was replaced with an odd feeling. One that made him feel like he was being revered.

Locking gazes with the female staff member behind the till, all the females got infinitely more entranced and invested in Gawain's being there the moment he spoke and truly let them know that he was British. The definite sounding of a Welsh accent still dripping from his voice, the females in the store went into wonderland.

"Ahh, could you direct me to the BL please?"

The moment Gawain said 'BL', he felt the predatory gazes of women on top of him and he was completed confused as to what was going on, a bead of sweat even trickled down his forehead.

"Of course sir. All-ages or 18+?"

"18+"

Turning his head at the feeling of foreboding, Gawain was irked to see the stares from the women in the store. The vulture-like stares that he had only see before from stray devils that were feeding on humans that he caught in the act when on hunts but this was scarier for him. It really pierced into him but he had to persevere for his King.

"This way sir."

"Ah, thank you."

"Do you have any preference sir?"

"All of them."

The store completely came to a halt. Hushed chatter sprung up into the room, they felt like they were dreaming and through silent urging the staff member sought to clarify.

"By all of them you mean..?"

"Yes, i'd like to purchase one of each game."

All the while Gawain looked completely innocent. Of course he did, his King refrained from telling him exactly what BL stood for. She just told him the store and to buy every 18+ BL game in there.

"Of course sir."

This led to Gawain's understanding of why the women had acted like they did. Despite his new knowledge of anime thanks to his master, he had still yet to have learned about this large part of it. When he picked up the first title to look at what it was, he resisted his urge to shudder in complete disgust. He was stupefied, no horrified at what he had just picked up. He wanted to throw the game back down and scream out in confused anger. He wanted to scream 'Why?!' to the heavens but he didn't he couldn't. He had to respect his King's interests and so he swallowed his disgust and placed it into the basket that he had brought in with him before ceremoniously putting one of each other title into the basket and walking back slowly to the till.

The women in the still not even bothering to move on with their day.

As the female clerk passed the games through the till, she stopped about halfway through and looked up to Gawain.

"Ah sir. A number of these games have special deals on that come with special extras, such as figurines. Does that interest you sir?"

That question honestly made Gawain feel like stabbing her right between the eyes with Galatine before splitting the rest of her body in half.

Gawain just levelled his stare at the clerk and nodded once.

"Yes, for all that it applies too."

The squeals of excitement from behind him terrified him. Gawain was then forced to watch as the added extras were bundled on top of everything else. But he continued to persevere, letting nothing out and paid for it all in silence. Paying with his credit card which now had enough money in that today's shopping spree for his King wouldn't even make a dent to.

Picking up the insane amount of bags with a slight huff, he turned on his heel and felt complete dread wash over him as a series of flashes blinded the edge of his vision. Resigning from ending them all, he quickly walked out of the dreaded BL shop.

…

When they both returned to the Gremory Castle that day, Gawain cursed his existence and the fact that the first thing he could do with his age now being 18 was not any of the cool things like go out and drink but it was to buy 18+ BL for a minor. So low he had fallen.

Gawain was also quick to unload of all the items that he had bought for his King and promptly left her room to indulge in whatever she deemed was lucky enough to be her first from the humongous pile. Once leaving his King's room, he headed straight outside of the castle to the large rear garden area where he could be alone. Taking 'Realiser' from his pocket, he positioned it so he held it in both hands before taking in a deep breath and exhaling it while imaging two completely black barbed spears. Running his hands down the spears, right over the barbs not even getting pricked by them he stopped and tightened his grip just above the butt of the spears.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

With a scream of annoyance, he raised both spears into the air and then slammed them both down into the ground and hard, portioning a large amount of his magic into each spear, ripping the ground up from its roots and completely shredding it.

Fully intending on letting his stress loose, he started to spar with the air. Piercing thrusts followed by swift swinging arcs. Defensive blocks followed by slams from above. Twin thrusts followed by ripping movements of the spears.

Gawain's natural affinity for corona started to swell up as he let his annoyance out. Nanoflares started to come to life, flickering around his body illuminating each acrobatic strike of the spears. Acrobatics slams of the spear poles, low to the ground sweeps of the spear poles.

"Gawain..?"

Gawain spun round fast and swinging the spear in his right hand as he did so, connecting the pole with the forearm of the person who called out to him. Gawain's, now angered, hawk-like eyes glared straight at Beowulf, the only one who had deemed it appropriate to step forward.

Gawain's eyes stayed angered as he looked at Beowulf and didn't bother to change when he looked past him to see both Lord and Lady Gremory along with Sirzechs, Grayfia and Karissa, who was holding onto a small child by the name of Millicas Gremory.

Not bothering to stop, Gawain continued to spin and brought the left spear round only to collide with the sword that Beowulf had lifted up.

"Gawain. Is something up?"

"I'm just letting off some steam."

"This is more feral than letting off some steam Gawain, almost like a dragon."

"Then you should understand for the future. It's said that King Arthur and his Knights possessed Dragon Blood inside of them, it was said to be what made them all stand out. And it all came out in different circumstances, King Arthur's came out with his pride and it allowed him to become the King of Knights. Gawain held the Anger of a Dragon, when truly angered or annoyed he was destructive."

"Then I will allow you to release it."

Dropping the pressure he was applying, Gawain allowed himself to be pushed away by Beowulf.

Muttering under his breath, a small length of white rope appeared around Gawain's left bicep. Gawain then muttered again and an identical white rope appeared around his right bicep.

"Loading shards 4 and 6. Rapidly and Mimic."

Bringing his voice up to a completely audible level, Gawain charged straight at Beowulf. His twin strikes of both arms came down in a blur crashing straight down into the ground where Beowulf stood, the new speed destroying his expectation and allowing the ground to churn up again throwing rocks and dirt around pelting Beowulf in the process.

"Loading and adding shard 1. Destruction."

Gawain was forced to jump back as he dodged an aimless swing of a sword through the dirt smoke.

"Gawain, are you trying to kill me?"

"Sirzechs-sama wouldn't have reincarnated you if you weren't strong enough to take some abuse from an 18-year old kid."

Beowulf gave his sword another aimless swing, this time dispersing the dirt smoke from the grounds. With the smoke gone, Beowulf could now see that Gawain was in his armour along with even more nanoflare particles flickering around his body. Gawain's hood was up with only his hawk-like azure eyes poking out with a blazing glare.

With his grip now at the centre of each pole, Gawain spun them both in his hands slowly creeping down them.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

The moment his hands reached the butt end, he hoisted them straight into the air before drumming them down into the ground silently setting it completely ablaze in a rainbow flame. Flowing outwards, using the impact as the central area the rainbow flames grew in size the further away from Gawain they were but burn hot they did not.

"From the sparkles of the stars, spring forth. From the blaze of the sun, burn and destroy."

"Whoa now kid. You still haven't finished that technique yet!"

"From the thralls of victory, loot and roar. From the blood of enemies, glisten and shine."

"Lucifer-sama?"

"Promote to Queen Beowulf."

"Promotion: Queen."

As Beowulf's aura exploded, Gawain's aura started to leak out taking on the full form of a crimson dragon looming over in the sky. The flames began to dance around the grounds, splitting into two and then four. Each flame shone in it's iridescent grace. Their sizes fluctuating with their silent dancing.

"From the halls of the knights that serve the King, Gracious and Honoured."

Gawain brought both of his hands together, smashing the two spears into each other. Shattering apart and reverting to it's base. The flickering fragments setting the blades of grass on fire, a black inferno spreading and overwhelming the rainbow flames. The pitch black eyes spun around in place between the scales on the head of the aura-made dragon.

"As her Knight, my Victory is through the Sun and the Stars. Staining the ground in front with the blood of her Enemies."

The dragon released it's heated roar, Gawain's demonic energy flooding out from it's roaring jaws.

"Repent in your sins. Scatter your regrets."

It's giant front claws pounded against the ground, the black flames bouncing from the uplifting force.

"For it is your end. Crim-Guhh!"

The dragon imploded as Gawain's body jerked forward, the flames disappeared away. Gawain's cheeks filled as his head lifted, his hood feel showing his skin that had paled. Black veins had stretched up from his neck just breaking past his jaw line.

His knees gave way and he fell forwards, throwing his hands out to stop himself. The irking sound of pained coughs echoed through the grounds as clumps of blood started to pour out from Gawain's mouth. With the last of the blood leaving his mouth, so did the strength from his arms and his ability to stay conscious. Gawain's arms slipped from the lack of strength and the rest of his body dropped, face first into the pile of dark blood that he had just puked up.

"Beowulf! Get Gawain inside now. Grayfia, go and fetch the Phoenix Tears."

""Hai Sirzechs-sama!""

Just before Gawain's conscious completely gave way, through blurred vision he saw the troubled face of Sirzechs Lucifer staring down at him.

"Stop pushing yourself Gawain. Rias won't be happy seeing you hurt again."

…

Gawain was asleep and under full care for a full week before he woke up, still feeling the full strain of failing to pull off the technique he had been training towards for the past three years. Sitting up on the bed with a groan, he looked down to see that his torso was completely covered in bandages. He couldn't help but give a slight sigh at the sight of them, again his whole body was unable to contain the build-up of power.

A simple stretch made his bones croak in reaction, the lack of movement for the week had made them content in staying lazy. Foregoing the strain that it gave him, Gawain continued to stretch out the remainder of his body.

"You are finally awake Gawain."

Looking up from his spot of the bed, Gawain looked straight at Lord Gremory who had just stepped into the room with a solemn expression to which Gawain only nodded in answer to.

"What gave you the smart idea to use that technique if you hadn't perfected it yet? Especially if that was the outcome."

"The Dragon Blood. Along with slight irritation that it's been three years and I still haven't completed it once."

"And you have a number of years to come to perfect it Gawain."

Gawain understood the point perfectly but it was one he didn't care for.

Staying silent, Gawain sat in the bed like he was a child who had just been scolded by his parents. This kind of care and emotion to him had rapidly become normal after living with the Gremory clan for so long now but even after 3 years it still didn't feel right to him, nor did it truly feel like a home to him.

"Why are you trying so hard to complete it? You are strong enough already, you should be out having fun."

"Because I want to complete it. All I know is fighting and protecting, Lord Gremory."

"Then find something!"

"Like what! I have no idea where to even begin!"

Not caring for the strain in his chest, Gawain shouted right back at Lord Gremory stunning him at his own raised tone. For the full 3 years there, Gawain had never once raised his voice outside of so people could actually hear him.

"All I knew was to kill and defend. Then when I came here, all I learnt was to play and protect. How am I even supposed to know where to look when that is all I know?"

"Gawain.."

"Please. Tell me where to begin. Give me something to go on."

"Fine. Starting tomorrow for the next month, your priority is to have fun and is not Rias."

Gawain's gaze wavered, he was conflicted.

"Is that ok?"

"She isn't going anywhere Gawain. Even if she was, I can trust Kuroka with her now."

"I see. But is it really ok for me to leave my post?"

"Gawain, you may not have seen it but if you are happy then Rias is happy. She may still be a young girl but she is mature enough to be by herself for a while. She looks at you on a similar level she does Sirzechs, to her you are not her Queen but her Aniki. She won't be bothered by you taking a few days to yourself, she'll probably be happy for you."

Gawain was unsure how to take that. The facts may have been laid out in front of him but he was still unsure, it didn't feel right to him to be able to even do this. It felt kinda wrong.

"If you say so Lord Gremory."

But Gawain did want to do something for himself.

"Then I'll take Sirzechs-sama up on that bike offer."

…

Standing in the front garden area of the castle, just off the stone path leading up to the doors. Gawain stood there in contemplation of the bike that was in front of him. It was not embarrassing but there was something off to Gawain, it wasn't what he had in mind for a bike, not in the end at least.

The bike was a deep crimson colour, truthfully it was a good looking bike and it was a prototype for one of the Underworld's many ventures into dealing with the human world for money. It was also to be the first breakthrough bike in the human world. The difference with this bike was that it didn't need to be filled with petrol or diesel at any time, it was powered by demonic energy that could be refilled on the go. That was what put Gawain off, it made him feel like the sound that it would produce would be a fake representation of the normal engines that utilize petrol or diesel.

While the bike in front of him was a prototype for moving forwards into the human world, it was a bike designed for use in the Underworld. Everything on it was built so it could work in the Underworld across all grounds, even with enough torque to climb mountains. While it was good that it had it, Gawain was annoyed that it's hole chassis was strengthened so it could take hits of any kind. It wasn't indestructible by any means but it was definitely strong.

Straddling the bike, Gawain instantly felt comfortable on top of it. Flooding his magic into the bike, it begun with a crackling rumble before snorting and breaking into a running beat.

"Hmm, it's different. I'm ok with different."

Giving his a short nod of his head in satisfaction, he turned to the two males of Gremory who stood beside him who had Rias in between them.

"You'll be gone for a week Aniki?"

"Yes Milady. I'll be journeying around however much of the Underworld I can cover in that time, doing whatever I feel like."

"Gawain. The Lords and Ladies of each clan have been informed about you, what you are on and the potential of strays and monsters being rid of for your travels. Plus as Rias' Queen, your data has also been leaked on the Devilnet so don't worry about not being able to be let into bars or the various clubs."

"I see, that's fortunate. Thank you Lord Gremory."

Kicking up the kickstand, the bike dropped slightly putting all of it's weight onto the suspension and it's wheels.

"Then I shall be off. Sights to see, Drinks to be drunk and Women to pleasure! Spring forth to Victory!"

Gawain was quick to rev the engine of the bike, picking his feet up off the ground he put them down onto the bars and drove straight off into the vast plains of the Underworld.

The moment he was out of the castle grounds he turned left and spurred off into forests.

* * *

><p><strong>I tanked towards the end of this chapter.<br>I tanked hard. Plus the last thousand or so words were originally a part of next chapter but i thought it fit better here.  
>Will end up probably not fitting better her but ah well.<br>**

**First off is Gawain loves his quotes, he likes to make a scene about everything.  
>If he can, he will. He is basically a child in an adult's body for the most part.<br>Plus Gawain's blind trust to his King, it's pitiful. I pity the poor guy at least.**

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


	6. Drunk Lykaon

**6/15**

* * *

><p>Gawain enjoyed his first two days out in the Underworld without having to care for anything else. Mainly because of how good the bike itself was, rather than anything else. Other than, for him, he found it peaceful to see the other territories. Mainly because of how truly easy he had it with being a member of the Gremory Clan. Wherever he went outside of the Gremory territory, he could simply feel the difference in the air. It wasn't a bad change, it was just a definite feeling that things were stricter or tougher than back in the Gremory territory.<p>

He met the locals, had spars with whoever asked for one destroying them in the process by shoving Galatine down their throats in a less literal manner than Raiser's case. Overpaid people like always and didn't care in the least, tipped his waitresses highly like a good playboy should and carefully let the women of the Underworld see a man in the places that most Males devils don't tend to go. Because despite him being on a journey for fun and for himself, he was still defiant on thinking about his King and buying her something.

Gawain loved the night-life portion of the Underworld, especially the cheaper alternatives like a local tavern in the lower-class portion of the territories. He was pretty much the only celebrity there but with his nature, no one acted on it and they were all buddy-buddy. Chanting as they drunk, placed bets on seeing who could out drink who or who could down a pint the fastest. Gawain never winning a single time but had fun as he did it. Making a name for himself in the less well off areas as a public identity that you wanted to actually meet.

But there was a single problem in the Sitri territory, more specifically Sona Sitri's portion of the territory when he set a whole forest on fire through using Galatine to wipe out a whole army of huge spiders. He was seated for approximately an hour in complete silence as Sona Sitri scolded him for completely burning a couple dozen hectares of forest. To which Gawain ended when he got bored by taking Sona's Queen, Tsubaki Shinra, hostage and running off round the castle with her. Snapping a quick salute to Serafall Leviathan to catch her attention and use her as a blockade against the incoming Devil heiress.

All in all, his first two days were good. Gawain crossed through the territory of an Extra Demon clan and then Sitri territory before passing into a neutral area where he stopped for the night.

…

Day three was where it got interesting for Gawain as he basically happened upon a massacre, that was the only way it could be put. When he arrived on the scene in question, he witnessed a large black dog literally tear through 8 heavily armoured devils that had power levels at the top-end of the scale for High-class devils in power.

The black dog had noticed Gawain and Gawain knew it, he had felt slightly off when he saw that the dog's gaze had passed over him. The dog just leisurely took his time throwing aside an armoured arm that it had ripped off just a few moments ago.

"**You devil! Why are you here?"**

Gawain was honestly creeped out a little that the dog could talk.

"Ahh well, you hear a fight going on, you investigate it."

"**You weren't here with them?"**

"Nah."

"**Then why aren't you going to report this?"**

"Probably because I care very little for who and why outside of who I have sworn to protect. Plus from what you've just said, it sounds like they were after you and they got their dues for attempting to take you. Serves them right, I guess."

"**You are a strange one but a practical one at that."**

Gawain mused that strange didn't cut it for the current him.

But Gawain had no more reason to be there, he had his show and the times for special discounts and the local karaoke night was near so he had to move. Kicking up the kickstand, he hopped back onto his bike and revved the engine once.

"**That's it? You are leaving?"**

"Yeah, like I said. I heard a fight and now I've investigated it. The fight is now over, no need to stay here any longer."

"**You don't care what I am? I could kill you now but you don't care."**

"Never really thought about the possibility of you attacking me. An animal is an animal to me, I love them all. If there was more of you then I might have just kidnapped you so I could hoard you back at the Gremory Castle."

"**That must mean that you are that 'Sir Gawain' that people have spoken about. The Queen to Rias Gremory?"**

Gawain was both deterred and impressed, the mutt knew his stuff. The human-like sentience was really creeping him out though. Swords that could talk were ok with him but your typical animal like a dog talking? Nah, that didn't work well with him. The two Nekos were ok because they were primarily humanoid.

"Y-Yeaaah."

Gawain was only sceptical in his reply.

"**You like swords?"**

That question then caused Gawain to gape. Was a dog really asking him about his interests?

"Yeah."

"**Have you ever wanted a sword that can speak?"**

"I have."

"**What about a sword that could move? A sword that could freely act as a sparring partner without the need of a second person."**

"That sounds good."

Rather than answering the actual question, Gawain was confused to the point that he was just answering the tone that the dog had. The tone that was implying that he was asking a question.

"**Have you ever wanted a large black dog with the power to kill a God?"**

Now that was something that Gawain could get behind.

"Hell yeah."

And Gawain answered without hesitation. There was no doubting his interest in animals that could start an apocalypse, just like the white rabbits when they were all gathered together.

"**Then take me along with you."**

"Eh? Are you the free prize to answering a tedious survey or something? No dice, they are usually scams."

"**Don't compare me to a survey Devil!"**

"Wait...Wait!"

Gawain then released a large and contagious sigh, one that forced the black dog into doing the same.

"You are that longinus right? Canis Lykaon? Why haven't you gone onto your next possessor yet?"

"**Hell do I know. My possessor got overwhelmed but as he summoned me, he was killed. Freak chance I suppose."**

Gawain's state on confusion was only furthered. The dog's manner of speech was just too weird for him, further adding to the weirdness of it speaking anyway. Looking down to his watch, Gawain gave out a slight groan. The clock was continuing to click ever closer and he didn't wanna miss the start. If there was one pub party activity he had confidence in then it was drunken karaoke.

"Can a person even have two Sacred Gears anyway?"

"**I dunno. That creepy fanatic Azazel found out that humans couldn't hold more than one because of the physical strain. You are a devil, a fairly strong one at that from scent alone. Don't worry about it, you'll be fine."**

Now Gawain was irritated as well, the damn mutt was too nonchalant about it all. Still though, a little pain was nothing so he could get to drunken karaoke on time. It may have been early into the month but he had found his fun and that was being an alcoholic.

"Fine, come on mutt. Assimilate yourself with me or something, no wait! Turn yourself into the black blade and I'll fit you into my Sacred Gear and you can be the conscious of that."

"**Why not? Let's give it a go."**

Gawain was then forced to deadpan as the dog went all transformers on his ass. The dog proceeded to bound a few steps towards him before jumping into the air like he was pouncing before it's large back body morphed into a large, claymore-styled black sword that shot at Gawain and phased into his body assimilating the two sending a cold shiver through his spine.

And it made Gawain conflicted, he didn't know whether to be annoyed at the dog for what it did, no matter how much it was like something that he would have done if it was a talent that he had or to just let it goo because it went smoothly. Only the slight shiver running through his spine was a pleasant alternative to pain in his opinion.

"So mutt, keep quiet now. I'm gonna win me some drunken karaoke."

"**Oh! Sounds like a hoot. Call me Nyctimus or Nyc."**

"...a hoot? Milady has de-sensitized me to things that I used to hear. I'm being turned against myself."

…

As the clock ticked over into the fourth day of Gawain's journey, he slowly stepped out onto the streets of the neutral territory between the Sitri territory and the Belial territory.

"**Oi Boyo, what's with this aria of yours for that technique?"**

"You spyin' on my shit dog?!"

"**Yeah. Now tell me, why an aria...more like convoluted speech."**

"It's a build-up, a visualization to power. It's not like I'm rooted and can't do anything until I've said it all."

"**That's all well and good but the name? Seriously? Who puts two colours in the name?"**

"Shut up mutt. It's not even finished yet."

"**How about you split it up into two? Perfect the two kinds separately before you try to combine them."**

"I had initially thought of doing that but I saw it as a hassle and forewent the idea. Not my finest decision as a 15 year old."

"**Ok. From now on, I'll do the deciding on these things and I'll also think of the name myself. First off, the ground-changing technique can be called 'Eden of the Tainted Flares'. That dragon-technique can be called 'Blood Dragon Fury'."**

"Yeah sure. Just go and pick typical but cool names outta your ass like it's something easy. Thanks mutt."

"**I sense a tinge of annoyance in your tone. Wanna talk about it?"**

Gawain only pouts away his annoyance at the Dog that has taken up residence in his body as the spirit soul to his Sacred Gear, effectively fusing it together with the Longinus that is Canis Lykaon. That made Gawain think though, why didn't the mutt ask to be called Canis or Lykaon?

…

The strangest thing happened though from there. The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh day was only a boon to both Gawain and Nyctimus. They had bonded over something simple and that was desks.

When Gawain found himself in a store that sold furniture, he instantly made his way to where all the desks were. Nyctimus just manifesting himself and not giving a care to anything else, just like Gawain was. The clerks however thought otherwise and were going to tell Gawain to take the dog outside, that was up until they heard the dog took and start to get into a huge debate with Gawain about desks and what was so special about them. It just forced the clerk to back off, devil or not he was not getting in the way of the Hero Descendant and the strangely powerful talking dog, not for a damn second.

They spent the best half of that fourth day in that one spot bonding over their love for the simple elegance of a plain desk with a little something added to it. The only real difference between the two being their preference in drapes, Gawain liked the regal style drapes that he had but Nyctimus preferred a more ragged style to them.

The whole of the fifth day they spent clearing out a forest together, this time not burning it all to the ground. Dealing with a few bounties and stray hunts whilst they were there effortlessly, thanks to Nyctimus for the most part. Floating sentient sword was easily more than enough to create wide openings in the strays. Random acts of Solar Flares erupted in the forests as Gawain grew tired of seeing hoard after hoard of spiders, obliterating them in one fell swoop. It was enough to make it look like a miniature sun had appeared in the Underworld, which could be said to be true if you labelled Gawain as the miniature sun.

And the Sixth day they spent bonding together, in the Drunk capital of the Underworld, Oustergraht. A territory that was completely neutral and great because of it, it was also the sole place that social rankings didn't matter and because of that the Higher-class devils never really went there. And because everyone was drunk out of their minds at all times, no one took any real notice that the dog could talk let alone the fact it was drinking beer too. Next to getting laid, it was possibly the best day of his life. Drunken mischiefs that were recorded for all to see, it was a grand time for Gawain.

Finally on the Seventh day it was the road trip home and like all good road trips, they took the scenic route back to span the entire seventh day and sung their heart out to Rock music back when it was still at least half decent. The hint of surprise and admiration as they found out that their favourite song was the same song.

Truly, they were individuals that were never supposed to meet but by chance they did.

And at the strike of midnight, the second ticking over into the 8th day Gawain had finally returned back at the Gremory Castle in silence, almost like the whole area was a complete ghost town save for the hustle and bustle of what was going on inside of the Castle.

Sending his bike to his pocket dimension, Gawain dropped to the ground softly as Nyctimus appeared beside him back in the form of a large dog with glowing gold eyes.

"**Listen to all that ruckus. What could be going on I wonder?"**

"New family member I guess. Milady might have been busy."

"**The Gremory girl? I get the sense that it might not be a good thing this hustle and bustle."**

"Just gotta roll with it."

"**Sure thing."**

Stepping in through the front doors to the castle, it appeared to be a party and not a new family member moving in. The sight of Gawain and the large black dog stumped the party members there, especially the fact that Gawain was covered in mud from riding through the forests.

"**I was right, it's not a good thing. These kinda parties are boring after spending a day in Oustergraht."**

"The dog can talk?"

"Sir Gawain is bringing another animal into the castle?"

The reaction went down those two lines. The party guests just simply wondering why a dog could talk and then the Maids and Butlers were just reacting to the fact that Gawain was bringing more random animals back to the castle. This time though, it wasn't actually Gawain's fault. The dog decided to tag along himself, the thought of a sword just swindled Gawain into giving up.

"Gawain! You are back, my boy."

"I am and with another animal."

Lord Gremory was first to welcome Gawain back to the castle after his week away.

"I can see. This one actually looks to be useful to you."

"**That I am. You'll never meet a finer dog than I!"**

The dog was proud of his abilities and thought that people should know that.

"The mutt's ego aside, I found him ripping a number of heavily armoured devils to shred. He's definitely strong."

"...Gawain. What's with you and bringing back animals that have committed crimes?"

"Details, details Lord Gremory. He was just protecting himself, plus the deaths were never reported nor were missing people reports filed. It's all good."

"**Boyo. All this staring is annoying me, I'm gonna go find your room."**

Nyctimus just leisurely walked off through the castle, sniffing around as he went without a single care in the world. Sniffing at the ground, sniffing at the guests' legs and even shoving his snout up the skirts of the various maids around the front lobby turned party area.

"So what is that dog Gawain? A black canine that size and with that power with sentience at that, I'm pretty sure he would call himself just a dog."

"You got that right. He is Canis Lykaon, the Black Blade of the Dog God. Whoever the Dog God is. And apparently Nyctimus, that's his current name, used to be a part of Grigori. Solely because of his previous possessor who was killed by the people that Nyctimus killed afterwards."

Despite the fact that they had spoke in a hushed tone, Lord Gremory's act of surprise and the dramatic widening of his eyes brought the whole attention of the room back over to them both.

"I told you to have fun for a week and you come back with one of the 13 Longinus? What kind of luck-centric being are you?"

"Evidently not a great one if I couldn't master that technique. Alas, he won't be taking up any of Milady's pieces. The mutt decided to assimilate himself with me, and in turn partially fusing himself and Canis Lykaon with my Knight's Prestige so all the swords will utilize his soul to become stronger and more potent. They won't be original level strength but they are stronger than before plus they are nowhere near as fragile, even the basic swords of knights can handle my corona magic now."

"Don't overload yourself with the new training with this Longinus now."

"Yeah. The damn mutt has already expressed how much of an idiot he thinks I am for not even thinking of splitting the technique I was going for into two and working from there. It's more like the mutt won't allow me to overload myself so that's good."

"It is. Now return to your room for the night, you can inform Rias of all this in the morning. She also has someone she wants to show you."

Giving a slight nod, Gawain walked off still in his mud covered clothes while stretching out his arms. He may not have made a show of it but Gawain had a bad feeling about whoever this person was that his King was going to be showing him.

* * *

><p><strong>This is the only character who is not in this story.<br>The original possessor of Canis Lykaon, Tobio Ikuse, albeit he is only a part of Canon later on.  
><strong>

**Nyctimus ... well, he is a kindred spirit to Gawain. Let's just say that.  
>Other thing being that Gawain already knows of his future, an alcoholic.<br>Fusing of the two gears, it isn't a complete fusion. It's more or less allowing Nyctimus to put his soul into the swords that are summoned to strengthen them.  
>It's more or less a mutual agreement to prosoperity.<strong>

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


	7. A Knight's Emotion

**7/15**

**Reupload: Not sure if a New Year thing or a random glitch. No change to chapter, just seeing if it fixes upload so people can see it.**

* * *

><p>Gawain found himself awake early the morning after returning to the Gremory Castle. The sword of a sword being used, while quiet in truth was a sound that rung in his ears. A sound that he was so equated with, it was as normal as breathing with him. With a long yawn, he stretched out his limbs as he still lay on his desk. Rocking to the left, Gawain then rolled off to the right and landed straight on his feet waking up the snoozing black mutt that blended into the dimly lit room and the desks.<p>

"**You are up early today Boyo."**

"Mmm. It sounds like Milady has acquired herself a Knight. As the Queen of her peerage and also the oldest member, it is my duty to train the newest recruits."

"**I see. Time to go see the girl then."**

Alongside a yawn of his own, Nyctimus jumped down from his desk and weaved between the ceremonial swords to stand by Gawain's side before the both of them walked out of the room in total sync with each other. Gawain's armour taking form around his body as they stepped out of his room.

Stepping out from the large glass doors that make up the gateway from the castle to the rear garden, Gawain and Nyctimus stopped immediately. Because already standing there just outside the door was Grayfia alongside Lord and Lady Gremory.

"Awake already Gawain?"

"I was awoken by the sound of steel clashing. Sure did miss my desks, hotel beds just aren't the same."

"And how about Canis Lykaon beside you? How did he find it?"

"**T'was a great slumber. Boyo picked well on the desks, simple yet comfortable. Shame the drapes are in so good condition."**

You'd expect a more rough and impolite way of speech from a sentient dog but he is easily able to betray your expectations. He even goes as far as having a slight old fashioned feel to his speech along with his tone too.

"I shouldn't be surprised but I can't help it. Are you saying that Gawain found a Longinus on his week away from Rias?"

"That I am dear. And just like with the two nekos, he found it in the midst of a crime. According to Gawain, it was through self-defence and he was right about there not being any reports or claims of missing persons."

"If I may interject, what of this boy that Milady has reincarnated?"

Gawain's question was met with a brief spell of silence that only Grayfia interrupted.

"The lone survivor of the Holy Sword Project. It seems that with your lack of help and Light count, a part of the church used orphans to acquire it."

"That's … Really? Seems like Milady has an interest in misfits. Maybe my influence really isn't that great after all. What's his stance on things linked to the church then?"

"Not good. He has exhibited bitterness to the sheer mentioning of Excalibur and the church, even if it is just an implied. Though you are another matter. Apparently, all orphans taken in were religious, initially at least. He knew of who you were before Rias-sama mentioned you and apparently, all the orphans who were taken in knew of you. The boy mentioned that he had overhead the Priests speaking about how you had gotten yourself free so it looks like you have an admirer."

"Not sure my ego really needs it but I won't say no to the kid. That means the Holy Sword he takes an exception to is Galatine."

"That is correct but I expect the boy to show some kind of dislike at the feeling of it's Holy power."

"Gawain, as you know the training of Rias' peerage ultimately hinges on your superior intellect on combat to Rias'. Use it to bring his severe hatred of the church down to a typical devil level, don't overdo it."

"Of course Lord Gremory. I will sculpt the kid into someone I can trust to protect Milady when a time calls for me to step onto the front lines. Come on Nyc."

Letting out another yawn that coupled together with a whine, Nyctimus got up from his resting prone position and followed after Gawain who had started to walk forward into the garden towards his King and his fellow peers.

Stopping next to Kuroka and Shirone, he cast a small glance towards his King who was currently sparring with the new boy who looked to be slightly younger than Rias. Gawain was impressed with them both, his King was showing good form and keeping her thrusts smooth, the boy also had a decent stance for swordsmanship possibly even an affinity for it before the Knight Piece.

"Blondie-nya, you are back-nya. With a dog too-nya?"

"Back-nya."

Gawain was still not too used to the following soft chorus of the white-haired neko that almost always followed after the Black Neko almost like whatever she said was a verse. These two however, have shown greater loyalty to Gawain than they have to Rias over their time here so far. They'd only been here for around about a year but they trusted Gawain enough to show him their more embarrassing side, their actual cat forms. Most probably due to the fact that Gawain loved animals, he didn't have the ability to bring animals to him but he loved them plenty and looked after them better than he did himself.

For some reason though, both Kuroka and Shirone didn't show a negative expression to seeing or even sensing Nyctimus being near them. It was like they didn't care or he didn't register as a dog to them, possibly the Senjutsu's influence and being able to analyse his Ki of being more spirit than 'real'.

"Yeah, I had fun while I was out. Drunken karaoke is great, you'll have to come with me next time Kuroka-nya. The dog however, met him in the same way I did you too although he ripped 8 high-class devils to shred as if they were plain old paper. I'll introduce him properly when Milady has finished."

"Sounds great-nya."

Gawain wasn't teasing them when he said '-nya' after their names but it was something that he did unconsciously. It did however spur Kuroka into acquiring a set of blonde cat ears and tail for Gawain, something that he actually appreciated being given as a gift and so he partially fused it with the hood and cloak so they could be summoned when he is in combat. No reason was ever given for that though.

"Aniki~!"

Nyctimus let out a small whistle in recognition as a speeding crimson bullet smashed into Gawain giving him a hug, completely putting aside the fact that she just smashed her head against his chestplate. Patting his King's head softly, his hawk-like eyes stared directly at the blonde haired boy that was slowly walking towards them. Turning his head away the second he noticed Gawain's eyes were on him.

"I've missed you Milady. Hopefully you had fun without me around."

"I did my best Aniki~"

"I'm glad. This boy is your Knight I presume. Sounds like he had a similar circumstance to me."

"It was the complete opposite Aniki~! Mou~~ I didn't find him leisurely sitting atop a church altar while the rest of the place was set alight~!"

"Ahh the details. Don't worry your cute little noggin' Milady. "

"Another pet Aniki~?"

"**I am not a pet Young Gremory."**

"He can talk~?!"

As Rias took a step back from Gawain who had turned side on to face Nyctimus, the dog decided to transform and with the transformer sounds to boot. A whole second or two later and he was a floating black claymore.

"In-between setting the forest in the Sitri territory on fire, kidnapping Lady Sona's Queen and getting drunk and partying I came across Nyctimus. Who had just finished snacking on some people. Introduce yourself mutt."

"**Boyo, stop it with the mutt. I am the Avatar Nyctimus to the Longinus known as Canis Lykaon, right now I have assimilated myself with Gawain and his own Sacred Gear partially fusing the two Gears together."**

The second Nyctimus stopped speaking Rias exploded into excitement and stared up at her Aniki once again with doughy widened eyes.

"Aniki~! You got me a Longinus~! Yaay~!"

"Well, he's mine but yes, he is a portion of your power now."

"Ne ne Aniki~! You gotta tell me about what you did~"

"Oooh, of course Milady. Let's start with the most memorable event which was kidnapping Lady Sona's Queen."

…

After Gawain gave the details on his time away along with the mishaps that went down, especially when he was drunk, he was spurred straight into training the new recruit as per his King's orders. 'Aniki~! Train him to be the strongest Knight~!'. That was the order set to Gawain and an order that he was going to fulfil even if it wasn't spoken. He needed a fall-back plan, he needed someone who he could use to stay by her side if he was asked to do anything else and so Gawain didn't start off slowly with the boy.

As soon as Gawain was given the order, he summoned and threw his old pair of armoured boots at the boy.

"Put them on 'Kiba Yuuto', a Knight needs to protect his liege. If he can't harden his own defences and weakness then has no space to even protect his liege. So before we start training you in swordsmanship or your Sacred Gear, you need to get accustomed to extra weight on your legs. Once you have started to find your way, I will add bracers into the mix. Do you understand?"

"Yessir!"

"Good. Put the boots on, they'll be too big and clunky to begin with but as you move they'll fit to you. They are only a training pair so in time, you'll need to acquire your own. Whether it be armoured boots like me or greaves, depends on your style. When you are ready, call upon your sword and come at me. Don't worry about hurting me, just come at me."

And so the boy named 'Kiba Yuuto' did just that, it was somewhat reminisce of an Army Sergeant and a Private, albeit without the swearing and harsh tone. Gawain kept his voice level but firm with his eyes directly on Kiba Yuuto, who was in the process of putting the boots on his feet.

Kiba moved as he summoned his sword but fell forward first, face first into the ground eliciting laughter from the side where the rest of the peerage was standing who was now joined side-by-side by Lord and Lady Gremory who were interested in Gawain training someone who wasn't his King. Grayfia had disappeared to get refreshments, much to Gawain's joy although there was no chance of there being alcohol.

The moment Kiba raised his head, Gawain spoke out.

"Don't worry about embarrassment Kiba. You and I are our King's swords. I am her Saber and you are her Knight. Our embarrassment is nothing but a potential gift that can make our liege smile. Cast it aside, there is no need for it. Stand up and continue."

"Yessir!"

Kiba was determined to get stronger, Gawain could give him that but everything that had happened to him was still fresh on his mind and because of that, his want to get stronger was a minus and not a plus.

Kiba then charged forward, not using the Knight speed but kept his footing this time although he did stumble towards Gawain. Without bringing his own sword out, Gawain stopped the slash of Kiba's blade with the index finger of his right hand. A near impossibility if it wasn't for Kiba's complete lack of everything right now.

"Good. You are getting closer. Keep it up."

And so the two of them repeated the process as the onlookers kept watch on them both. Gawain never once moving anything but his right arm to stop the inward slashes of Kiba's sword, a demonic steel short sword. But even when Kiba got back to his original footing and the boots had fit themselves to his feet, he still couldn't get Gawain to bring out his own sword and neither did he get Gawain to grip the sword in his hand. Gawain just slapped the sword and Kiba away with the back of his hand.

"Now use the speed that comes with the Knight Piece. Accustom yourself to it, become one with it."

Wordlessly, Kiba did just that. He started to use his Knight speed, bit by bit and minute by minute he started to get better with it. He became faster but not fast, not yet. The added speed add to the power and velocity between each strike but it still failed to make Gawain change how he dealt with Kiba's strikes.

Gawain stood strong and firm the whole time, he simply let his eyes do all the work. For devils and swordplay because of the sheer speed they can go at, reaction times is the biggest factor but Gawain didn't believe that to be completely true. Due to his times with the church he learned that humans had to go with what they knew to counteract the inhuman speed and that was to use science, but more specifically physics. All of the top exorcists and all of the exorcists who would grow to be the best went out of their way to learn physics, either at all or in deeper detail. Their vision strengthened and they learnt what to look out for through practice, and that was where most of the weight and intent came from. An Exorcist's stare. You could tell a weak exorcist from a strong exorcist by the look in their eyes alone.

It wasn't great eyesight that was needed but it was the ability to see particulars that was needed. You needed to be able to see the shifts and changes in movements even if it was fleeting, it gave you that extra few seconds of life that the exorcists needed.

"Your strikes are shallow Kiba. Don't hesitate to strike me down with your blade. No matter how our Kings acts, our lives are not ours. We are hers to command. We will strike down whatever we need to to keep her safe and to allow her to continue moving forward. We will overthrow anyone, cut down anyone for her. No matter whether they are criminals or innocents, Prince or pauper, an Old and Wise King or a crying newborn. Once combat comes around discard all emotions. A loss of an arm to us is better than a strand of her hair being lost. Now strike me properly Kiba."

Gawain's voice came out without a single drop of emotion. It seemed to have struck a nerve with Kiba though as he came at Gawain once again, a feinted strike that was followed by a sidewards swipe. Something that Gawain saw easily and stopped but nonetheless impressed.

"Good Kiba but stop the thoughts in your mind. Understand it now and understand it quick. Do not get stronger for revenge. You will end up with only regret."

"How would you even know that?!"

For the first time, Kiba had hissed out at Gawain.

"Because my eyes are not clouded. Revenge is something that will never end if you don't give it up. You kill whoever is responsible then someone will come after you in revenge for that person and so on. Revenge is a dangerous path that only ends in pain, sorrow and regret. You do not have to experience it to understand it. Milady hasn't said anything to you about it, she won't but unlike her, I am not so kind. Drop it Kiba and drop it fast. Now that you are here, now that you are with us, you will experience being around Holy Swords a lot. If you don't drop it, you become a risk and not just to yourself but also to Milady so no matter what she says, I will put you down faster than she can even speak to stop me. A couple lives of people close to me is nothing for her safety Kiba."

Kiba's posture slouched, almost like his body had shut down before jerking up a moment later with two steel short swords in hand and charging towards Gawain. Gawain could only sigh, anger and contempt were not good emotions to have.

Gawain shot forward himself, disappearing and appearing gain all in a single second. But when he did reappear though, he was kneeling over Kiba's body which had Gawain's left hand on the top of his skull burying him into the ground.

"When angered, your senses and skill dull. Your mind hones in on a single thing, your care of your own well-being disappears. You become hell-bent on getting that revenge even if it's the cause of your death, you don't care as long as it's done."

As Gawain stood back up, he picked Kiba up with him holding his body up in the air.

"You become weak but deadly. An angered person is no good to anyone. Learn it peacefully or have it ceremoniously beaten out of you."

Letting go of his head, Kiba's body dropped to the ground beaten and bruised. Turning around, he slowly walked back to his earlier position.

"Now. Let's see which choice you pick."

Turning around to face Kiba, Gawain pushed his right foot backwards and twisted his body side on keeping his face looking straight at Kiba. Gawain's eyes narrowed further recognizing Kiba as a prey and he uttered a single sentence that forced Kiba into making his decision quickly.

"Load all shards: Summon Excalibur."

The golden Holy sword appeared out of thin air, it made it appearance like it was always there but no one knew it. Wind whipped around the golden sword as it was being unmasked, it's unparalleled Holy aura showing itself. It's power becoming thick thanks to Nyctimus' presence in the Sacred Gear. The relics felts alive once again and it was ready to show why it was and still is a Great Sword.

…

A whole half an hour later and Gawain was finished but not tired in the slightest. In the centre of the beaten, charred and completely churned up garden to the Gremory Castle he stood proudly, with the Excalibur in his right hand in pristine condition, radiating off it's unique Holy aura.

Kiba Yuuto was hunched over in front of him, in the centre of one of the many craters around the grounds, beaten and exhausted, barely staying awake breathing in and out deeply. The shattered sword that lay in his hands slowly disappeared into nothing.

"Have you lost the will of revenge or do I need to beat you into a coma to do so?"

When no reply came his way bar increased deep breathing, Gawain let out a dry chuckle.

"Good. Good. That's fine Kiba Yuuto. Get rid of the revenge but keep it as a goal. It's an easy change yes? Channel the hatred into determination, don't hate but revere. Created a sword of your own that becomes stronger than Excalibur. Have your name written in history, not as the crazed sociopath that destroyed Excalibur but as the man who crafted a sword stronger enough to break the Excalibur. How about that for a third choice?"

"..G-Goal?"

Gawain's gaze softened at Kiba who struggled to look up at Gawain. A small smile appearing on Gawain's features.

"Of course. Use the feelings of your comrades to prosper and not restrain yourself. No matter how young, no matter how immature, when death comes around they are never petty in things like this. Think to yourself Kiba. I have shown you the power of Excalibur and shown you that currently there is nothing you can do to 'avenge' your friends. I have given you a new alternative, make it one of many goals in life. But Kiba think, you were the only one to get away so why was that? I'm sure you didn't trample over the others, didn't push them out of the way to get out. I'm sure that you all helped each other to get out, you all wanted at least one person to survive what had happened. So think about it. Think about what your comrades wanted and want for you? You are alive. Come to a decision, do they want you to live happily and peacefully for their sake or do they want you to get revenge even knowing that doing so will not bring them back."

Kiba's eyes then started to droop as his conscious was giving way and so Gawain walked over to him and hoisted him over his shoulder.

"Take your time Kiba Yuuto. It's not an easy decision to make but until you've made it, no one here will help you get stronger. We are your new comrades, and we are not replacements for them. We will all await your decision."

Kiba's head finally dropped down against Gawain's chestplate signalling that he had finally fallen asleep. Instead of walking back to the others and his King, he repositioned Kiba's body on his shoulder and looked up to the blank and murky purple sky of the Underworld.

"My King saw something in you Kiba Yuuto, prove her right. Prove her precious use of the Knight piece on a dying boy that she randomly happened upon to be right. I trust her judgement, show us what you can do."

Letting out one final dry chuckle, Gawain brought his gaze back down onto his King and let a large smile come to his expression.

"I wonder what awaits us in this future of ours."

* * *

><p><strong>Done~!<strong>

**Thanks to today being New Years, i have practically no time for anything story-related.  
>So only half of tomorrows chapter is done and i still have my typcial friday release for Mahouka to do and i can't do anything for a while.<br>Haaaah...How fun. Good job i'm not getting drunk this year or i'd completely forge about updates.**

**Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.  
>Hwyl Fawr~!<strong>


	8. No-shame Dilemma

**8/15  
>New Years fucked me over writing wise.<br>So short update, sorry!**

* * *

><p>It had been well over a month now since Kiba Yuuto had arrived at the Castle and had taken up one of Rias Gremory's Knight piece. It was a rocky first few days for him there but after his third day it got better. He had came to his decision and decided to let go of his hatred and to take the third choice that Gawain had given him. After thinking about it from all sides and all directions along with different perspectives, he couldn't help but see that Gawain was right. They had all bonded incredibly, they were forced to but that didn't mean their bonds were a lie and despite being forced they were all true bonds and something he had to live on for because of it. Kiba's grit and determination from there on was a warming sight for Gawain to see.<p>

This month later though had seen a new introduction to the Gremory castle and a new member to the peerage. A hybrid vampire called Gasper Vladi but he was a troubled person, in many ways.

And so, in the throne room to the Gremory castle, Lord Gremory was holding a small meeting to see how to get through. The others in the meeting were Sirzechs, Grayfia and Gawain, who was taking the place of his King as he was the only one in the peerage who was strong enough to take part.

"So the Vamp can freeze time? Sounds like a pervert's field day to me."

Gawain was rather nonchalant about it but the Vampire was half human and was lucky enough to have a Sacred Gear. Forbidden Valor View and it had the ability to freeze time but those of a sufficient power level in terms with the possessor weren't affected by it.

"Be a little more serious Gawain, it's dangerous."

"I'm fully aware of the danger Grayfia, this kid is just beyond my expectations. Who knew he was a boy. Everything about the kid is female until you strip him naked."

"That's our dilemma isn't it? He is so shy and cut-off because of his interests, the Vampires wouldn't like his interests and with the fact he is a half-blood. Who knows what Gasper-kun had to go through."

"The only thing we can do is seal him off for his own good and for others."

"There is another option."

Gawain decided to intervene in-between Lord Gremory's and Sirzechs small part. Both men however turned to Gawain with gazes that spelled that they knew what he meant but they themselves were unwilling.

"Are you saying that you will do the alternative?"

"Milady wants to speak with him, befriend him, show him that we don't mean him harm. And I've said it before about my embarrassment, you all heard what I said to Kiba."

"That we do. You really have no shame Gawain."

"No need for the compliment Sirzechs-sama, just doing my job."

Completely taking it the wrong way on purpose, he faked a blush on his cheeks in response to which the two males of Gremory just shook their heads with a sigh.

"Alright then, Grayfia."

"Yes Sirzechs-sama?"

"Get some maids together and transform Gawain."

"Hai."

…

Walking down the hallways of the Gremory Castle side by side with Grayfia, Gawain found himself in a dilemma. Cross-dressing to help his master was one thing by itself but having a particular outcome where he doesn't feel like he is less of a man is odd to him. No, it's more like he is deeply confused about himself and it leads him to wonder if he actually might like cross-dressing in the future. One of those guilty pleasure things.

By trying to fix one dilemma, another possible one was created.

In the exact same uniform as Grayfia, Gawain was honestly unperturbed and not embarrassed about it in the slightest. A blue and white French maid outfit with long sleeves, a pair of white stockings and red heels, a white maid headband over his head, with Grayfia's trademark red lipstick as a cosmetic accessory. It was strange that he didn't look out of place, and that was before his hair was given a change in look. Rather than giving him a wig, they had fixed blonde extensions to his hair so it kept his unkempt style but now the length comparable to Grayfia's, he even had the two braids resting against his front. And to complete the whole outfit was that he had the chest too, he was currently wearing one of Grayfia's bras with who knows what stuffed in it to give it it's plump size.

"You know Grayfia, i'd have thought I would have trouble walking."

"I had the same thought Gawain."

That was relatively true, they just put the heels on him and he started walking like he had been wearing them for years now. The biggest problem though is that he doesn't actually look that bad, his unkempt hair makes it look a little off but really, he is able to make it work.

"Hey Grayfia."

"Yes Gawain?"

"D-Do y-you think I look pretty?"

The moment Gawain uttered out that sentenced with an embarrassed tone and expression, Grayfia grinded to a halt and spun round to look at Gawain who was currently completely in character and was looking rather bashful. Grayfia was forced into being stunned, her cheeks blew up into a deep red at the sight of a bashful feminine Gawain.

That was the piece de resistance about the cross-dressing Gawain, bashful Gawain is too much for any stimuli.

"Teehee~"

Grayfia was forced to shut down from a brain overload.

Tilting his head to the side and wearing a confused expression, Gawain gave Grayfia a poke in various places only to find out for himself that she was out cold. Spouting 'Meh' he gave a short shrug before walking off to his destination.

Walking through the Gremory castle with absolutely no care in the world, like absolutely nothing had changed Gawain barges into the throne room to where both Lord Gremory and Sirzechs were waiting for him, now with Lady Gremory in their midst. His typical way of entering instantly let them know it was him but when their gazes turned to him they just stayed with no speech arising afterwards at all, not until he stopped in front of them at least.

"Where is Grayfia, Gawain?"

"Ah about her. I broke her."

"I see. Hearing that I take it this change has done absolutely nothing but just change what you are wearing, correct?"

"Absolutely Sirzechs-sama. For I have no shame!"

That was true, Gawain had no shame and knew no shame. Though it wasn't exactly a good side of Gawain as per combining it with his normal way of acting can lead things astray.

"I'm thinking of doing this again the next time Raiser comes to visit Milady. I'm sure he'll show a comical enough reaction to make Milady smile."

"Oh? How about wearing something else for then?"

"Yup Yup. I was thinking originally thinking one of those bunny outfits but I couldn't pull that off, unless we use fake breasts. Or maybe even one of those strict teacher outfits, i'd need a pointer stick. Under a last resort, we could ask Leviathan-sama for one of her many Mahou-Shoujo outfits to borrow. She undoubtedly has the outfit for that blonde girl in that Paella anime."

"Paella? You mean Puella right?"

"I don't know. It's been over three years now and I still don't understand Japanese."

"We should go see the Vampire then?"

"Sounds about right."

Both Gawain and Sirzechs just nodded at each other, despite Rias' love for anime and Japan and trying to get them to understand they both didn't really understand it at all nor could they see the greatness of it. Even if it did help Gawain out with weapons and attacks, he had no idea for the most part.

…

Both Sirzechs and Gawain stepped in through the door which sectioned off Rias' boardroom for peerage dealings to the rest of the Castle, they did it in silence. The two men were currently confused with how to deal with the current predicament, as two men they felt wrong.

"Onii-sama~! Eh? Who's that?"

Gawain's right eyebrow raised at his master's inability to recognize him dressed as a woman. Kuroka and Shirone on the other hand were both covering their mouths with their hands, although it was pointless for Kuroka to do so as she was already laughing loudly.

"Milady, please recognize my face at least."

"A-Aniki~?!"

"Yes Milady. It is I, Your Queen, Gawain Rheon."

"B-But why are you dressed as a maid?"

"The Vampire boy. You want him to get along with everyone so I thought i'd cross dress to get him to relax and open up."

"Why?"

Rias Gremory was confused, very much so.

"Because you wanted him to get along with everyone."

"Are you not embarrassed Aniki?"

For some reason unknown to Gawain, Rias' tone had gotten pretty level and bland.

"No, why would I be? I'm doing this for you, I have no need to be embarrassed."

"Do you like it? Dressing up as a woman."

Gawain was starting to feel weird, like he was being hated by his King. Almost as if she was 'fed up with his shit'.

"Not particularly. I neither like it or hate it."

"So you'll come to school with me? When I turn 15?"

Now Gawain was confused.

"If you so wish Milady. I've got the grades but I don't have the experience."

Rias' face then lit up, the metaphorical stars were most definitely in her eyes.

"You'll have to choose then Aniki. Cross-dressing or we could get Beelzebub-sama to make some kind of potion which can make you a girl."

"Why? Milady, don't tell me-"

"Yep! All-girls school."

Now Gawain was conflicted and confused. Worse still, he wasn't sure if those choices were something he could choose between and not in the way where he likes either option the same. They were both as bad as each other … no, now that he has had some seconds to think about it. It's pretty evident which one he'd choose with him immature mind.

"Ria-tan, Gawain will be 20 by the time you can enter school. Why don't we set it up so he can teach there? What about that Gawain?"

Sirzechs had turned to Gawain when he mentioned teaching and with a look in his eye like he was throwing him a bone which will lead him to saving his masculinity.

"Teaching huh? In an all-girls school? Would they allow me to teach Physical Education or Health studies? Perhaps even be the school's nurse?"

"No, of course not Gawain. The best alternative you'd get is Home Economics. Girls like a guy who can cook, better yet the single mothers like that the most."

Gawain was hooked with no chance of getting loose, there was a single chance but Grayfia was still actually out cold.

"Yes, I agree. Home Economics, Grayfia has been teaching me how to cook lately. Japanese stuff though, I did learn the British dishes back in my time with the church. I can handle sewing."

"Then we'll do that Gawain. I'll inform Otou-sama so we can get that sorted for you and we can get some materials for you."

"Are the teachers all female too?"

"Completely. You'll have fun there Gawain."

"I better. Lucifer or not, I'll beat your crimson ass into the ground if it ain't fun."

"Feel free to try, Blondie."

Narrowing his gaze at Sirzechs, Gawain waited until Sirzechs had stopped smiling from the retort and punch him straight in the face.

"Thanks. I feel oddly satisfied after doing that."

And with an equally satisfied smile on his face, Gawain walked further into the room before turning his head to the left as he heard a rustle. Sitting in the corner of the room was a girl, no a boy who was simply dressed as a girl. Slowly, Gawain walked towards the boy who was huddled into the corner, holding onto his knees to make himself even smaller and inconspicuous.

As Gawain got closer, he could see that the boy was young. Probably the same age as Shirone but the problem here was what he was wearing. Gawain was completely ok doing what he was for the sake of his King but now that he was looking at the kid who was cross-dressing, something clicked in his mind. Something had betrayed his notion of 'All for His King'. He felt like he had betrayed himself and so he did what Gawain does best. He started to strip.

It didn't take Gawain long either to get to just his pair of boxers. The maid uniform, tights and heels were on the ground, the hair extensions that he had pulled out were now resting haphazardly on top of the clothes. A red smudge on the top of his right hand from where he wiped away the lipstick. But for some reason, he didn't bother to take off the headband.

"What the hell is wrong with me!?"

Dropping his head down, he gave out a loud sigh that sounded more like an unintelligent grunt.

Giving out another sigh, Gawain's armour starts to materialize around his body to cover him up as he turns around from the young vampire. With a short shake of his head, he walks away walking past everyone.

"Gawain, where are you going?"

"No Sirzechs-sama. I'm not doing it. Looking at that damn kid made me realize something."

"And that is?"

"I don't care who they are, even if the are my King. I. Am. Never. Crossdressing. Again."

And with that Gawain left the room and quickly.

* * *

><p><strong>That's that.<br>Yet again, poor Gawain.  
><strong>

**Yeah, i was never really going to introduce Gasper properly in this chapter.  
>All that i really had to cut out so i could get my Mahouka chapter up today is Gawain sulking like a bitch.<br>But i'll reference to it in the next chapter to try and make up for it.  
>I should have known that my nephews would corral me into playing with them for so long.<strong>

**Alas, ill stop complaining.**

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


	9. Losing his Will

**9/15  
>Sure<strong>**ly, i have to be creeping up on copyright by now. Ah well!**

* * *

><p>Kneeling down in his King's room, Gawain found himself confused. Not really anything new for him but it still never came with anything pleasant for him. This time though, it seemed to be otherwise.<p>

"Aniki~, we are going to comiket and we will cosplay for it."

"I see."

Gawain was staying silent for the most part. His King's fascination with a particular series was stunting his life and also her brain cells, it was becoming more painfully evident as his King had recently dyed her hair black and had put it up into twin-tails using black ribbons.

What irked Gawain the most was what was on the small table in front of him in his King's room.

"One of my contracts is going to be selling a doujinshi about Fate and her friends were going to cosplay to advertise it but they got sick. I told her we would do it~!"

This troubled Gawain greatly, he somewhat feared for his King's future. She had just turned 14 and she was still into dressing up as fictional characters. No, what troubled Gawain the most was how thorough his King was in making all of this happen. It was all in front of him, so until he heard it straight from her mouth he wouldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it.

"I see."

"So we are going to cosplay about the two characters that she is writing about. Rin-chan and Archer~!"

Gawain kept his emotions straight and his gaze levelled. He wanted to say no, his whole being was yelling at him to do so but he couldn't say no.

"I see. If you want to do this then I'll be happy to help you out."

'No, I damn won't!' He couldn't take it anymore, the only option left was to mentally curse at anything and everything in the known world. Even the antagonists in fictional novels.

"Great! Otou-sama acquired everything that was needed. A replica of Archer's armour, the 'Red Plain Mystic Code' along with Kanshou and Bakuya. There is also some white hair dye and black contact lenses."

That's what troubled Gawain the most. Rias Gremory did not say replicas of Kanshou and Bakuya but Kanshou and Bakuya which can only lead him to believe that they are the actually swords made by the Blacksmith couple. That meant that his King would have further interest in all of this. She was probably going to order him to commit copyright or something.

This whole thing was only furthered by the fact that his skin was now tanned, a repercussion of his use of Corona magic. It troubled Gawain greatly but he still had to confirm the swords.

"Milady, the swords. They are replicas right?"

"Huh? Can't you feel their power?"

It wasn't that he couldn't, he just refused to believe that they did have that power.

"I can Milady."

"Good. Now try them on."

"Now?"

"Here and now Aniki."

That was the other thing that troubled with Gawain. His King was getting more and more mature and so she was speaking to him differently, it instantly did not go down well with Gawain nor Sirzechs. Albeit Sirzechs was more dramatical about the whole change. There were no more cutesy replies from her, it had become so plain. They had to work for it from her, that being said it wasn't particularly hard for them to get their desired reaction from her as they have both been with her for a while now and can recollect her embarrassing moments with ease.

And so reluctantly, Gawain changed into the outfit that was laid out in front of him. The black pants, then the boots, then the straps, then the body armour and then, finally, the red fabric that acted as the red shroud. It annoyed Gawain how damn comfortable it felt on too, especially with the body armour just being his torso meaning the soft fabric was against the skin of his arm. It was too damn good.

Gawain was currently screaming 'No!' in his mind but Rias was currently screaming 'Yes!'. It should be emphasized the fact that she wasn't screaming it mentally but actually, she was screaming it out loud.

"Kyaaaaa~!"

As Gawain was putting in the black contact lenses, he was feeling conflicted. This had to be more embarrassing for Rias than anything else so far, yet she doesn't realise or is to overthrown by seeing the cosplay she can't help herself.

Running his hand through his hair to slick it back, Gawain let out a short sigh.

"I suppose I'll have to call you 'Master', Milady."

Gawain was then forced to watch as his King went all fan girl on him, he never thought he would be creeped out by his King before but now he can add it to the list of things that actually happened to him.

"Now Gawain, during the third and final day Leviathan-sama will be there after hosting her own event. We will battle-play against her and you will win. Got it?"

"Yes Master."

Fighting a Maou was always going to be a fun time for Gawain, especially when dual-wielding was his favourite way to fight. He loved to fight with two Galatines but it was hard for him to find an opponent who could last long enough or he wouldn't kill easily because they were naturally weak to Holy Weapons.

"Master, how does the hair dye work?"

"I'll do it for you later Ani-Archer~!"

Depression then hit Gawain like a tonne of bricks. She sounded happier calling him Archer than she does Aniki now. And the only thought that came to Gawain's mind was that Older Brothers really do feel different after their younger sister has matured. The cuteness … younger sisters should stay that way.

"So Master, when is this comiket then?"

"It opens in a few hours."

"What?! Really?"

"Yes. So we really need to get your hair dyed."

"Master, you should have informed me as soon as you knew. Anyway, let's get to dying my hair."

Spoken with a sigh, Gawain picks up the hair dye and slowly makes his way into the bathroom that is conjoined to Rias' room.

…

Standing in line waiting for the hall to open, Gawain found it odd that his King used magic to allow her to wait right at the beginning of the freakishly long line. He thought that she would have wanted to savour the whole experience, and he was pretty sure that the lining up was a massive part of it even though it was long and tedious. Gawain was also in turmoil with himself, the armour was really damn comfortable and the straps around his thighs actually had a small clip which held onto Kanshou and Bakuya.

Just before he actually teleported into the Human World with his master, Gawain was lucky enough to hear more about this battle-play from Sirzechs. It was an event that was hosted by the devils within the large hall and both Gawain and Leviathan are allowed to go all out, a defense circle would be placed up and heavy mind altercations would be going up to make it look like CGI and that all explosions and swords rising up out of nowhere or appearing out of nowhere was the CGI. That itself made Gawain confused, come out of nowhere? Sirzechs answered Gawain that he was to fight as Archer does and Gawain completely blanked before dropping his head in total defeat with a groan.

"Honestly, what a troublesome master I have."

Little did Gawain know, he actually said a typical Archer line and the incessant fangirling and fanboying commenced around him. Standing there, with a look of mild contempt of his face, Gawain crossed his arms over his chest. He stood out and majorly at that, because of the cosplaying and the fact that he was taller than everyone else in the line. His height being somewhat fitting for the character that he was dressed as.

And thus when the gates were finally opened for everyone to go into the hall, he let out a rasp groan before moving along with Rias, walking directly behind her to keep the onrushing Otakus from stepping on her. His height, build and outfit practically making him a beacon in the sea of rushing people.

The amount of people there in the large hall wasn't exactly something new to Gawain, but it also wasn't something that he was used to. Although, he had only been near this amount of people in Oustergraht and was really drunk at the time so that's a kind of embarrassment that people can put up with. This though, Gawain's emotions may be weak in the most part but he is definitely feeling something bad from wearing the cosplay outfit.

Each step Gawain took resounded with a slight clang of the metal boots and the two swords dangling by the top of his legs. It pretty much made way for everyone around them, parting like the red sea. Normal clothes visitors and other cosplayers just slowly moved out of the way for them to pass by, and by no way was it an oppressive aura that Gawain was wearing. All the way up to the circle that Rias was contracted with, Gawain sulked.

"Rias-chan! You made it!"

"Of course I did Yuka! Look I brought Gawain with me!

The collected gazes of all 4 girls on the opposite side of the table an array of books turned their gazes from Rias to Gawain, their eyes getting wider by the second.

"...Perfect. You were right Rias-chan, he is perfect for Archer. You both look so good too, were you able to make a Kanshou and Bakuya in time?"

Gawain pushed his lips tightly shut at that question so he wouldn't respond to how his King would react to that. And Rias reacted just like Gawain thought she would, a hand placed on her hip and the other hand up in front of her waggling her index finger from side to side.

"I was able to _find_ Kanshou and Bakuya in time."

And the 4 girls' mouths dropped open, quite rightly so in Gawain's mind. Expecting his King to shift their gaze towards him, Gawain pushed the waist cape further apart so the two swords could be seen.

"Y-You went all out Rias-chan."

"Yup~!"

And Gawain thought it was a shame that she wouldn't go all out in her training anymore. His status as Aniki doesn't really mean anything anymore, he might even be forced into just being Gawain to her.

"So what do you want us to do?"

"Advertise. Gather attention for us. Standing in front of these booths and then while going around the place."

…

Advertising was by far the most boring thing that Gawain had ever done but he was persevering, mainly because his King was so happy about the whole thing. People asking for pictures, people asking to here quotes. That Aria has quickly become one that Gawain detests. He doesn't mind the series as it is but the fans make it annoying for him, especially when they make him say the damned Aria multiple times.

Gawain was quickly becoming a grump because of the whole event. Following his King's orders always were starting to turn into him hating everything, only because of her age. And he is really starting to think about cutting back on it all and trying to push Kiba into it, annoy him for a while. Though Kiba would probably do it all with a smile and annoy Gawain because of it.

Gawain was the type of person who wore his heart on his sleeve, if he looked upset then he was upset.

Walking around the event hall was a pain in itself for Gawain, the stopping and starting because Rias was going giddy over absolutely everything. This also meant that books and other things were being dumped into his arms every so often, a devil's abundance of money being able to buy one of everything here. Gawain's problem being that the moment they were asked to go and advertise around the hall was that Rias rushed straight towards the limited booths, or so she called them so she could get the limited edition things, more crap to bundle into Gawain's arms. The annoyed gaze in his eyes only looking like fitting into the role by people around him, his gaze turning hateful every time he could turn to someone who asked for something in particular before Rias could reply saying 'Ok~!'.

Though Gawain's biggest problem was kids who seemed to be a little too young were coming up to him and asking for things. Two problems there. First being he couldn't wear an unhappy expression in front of a young child and secondly was that the child shouldn't be asking in the first place as they were most definitely under the age range for the particular anime that he was cosplaying as. Possibly a parent ploy to get a definite picture, combine their little joy with their hobby joy, something like that perhaps.

Gawain's mood was instantly revitalized however when he returned to the booth with his master towards the start to the second half of the day. When they arrived there, an Archer-esque seat was placed there. Looking at it made Gawain a little happier about the whole cosplaying thing but it also made him slightly regret his interest in décor.

Perching himself atop the red drapes and broken furniture, he picked his legs up and placed them down on the steel seat that was placed just in front of the 'art'.

That however was more photograph moments. No-one other than Gawain would truly be happy at sitting on top of a desk so a content smile on the face of Archer in the place that he was summoned called for an array of flashing, that for once didn't really irritate Gawain.

"You don't have to do anymore advertising now Rias-chan. We've only got a few copies left to selling out and we've already put your copy to the side."

"Awesome~! You are going to stay here the full three days right?"

"Of course, we have our own stuff that we want to buy."

"Then will you be staying for the battle-play at the end of the third day?"

"Without a doubt. It's going to be the first time being so popular. Magical girl Levia-tan will be there and the opponent is still unknown."

"Hehehe~ Me and Gawain are her opponents!"

Gawain let out a short sigh from his seat on the desks at his King's eagerness to telling that she has a big part in something.

"Really? Does that mean?"

"Hai Yuka~! It's a Devil event so it's gonna have real magic, Gawain will even be pulling off UBW by himself and no CGI."

"Master, I've already told you. Pulling off UBW may mean I accidentally kill Leviathan-sama, outside of that you didn't acquire Archer's bow for me. I know I have my own but it'd look out of place."

"I forgot! I'll tell Otou-sama now and have one made."

Gawain sighed again while placing his left hand on his forehead. His King was definitely too eager to make this cosplay to real, who would actually have real swords or a real bow when cosplaying. Gawain was also pretty sure that his King has acquired some jewels that work in the same way as the story itself.

That was also the problem with Gawain being forced into pulling off UBW. He had played the PSP game and using the Excaliber, even not being the whole thing will still do a considerable amount of damage to Leviathan. And his King was completely ok with potentially killing the Maou because of the current environment.

Still though, he wondered if Leviathan could hold her ground against those swords.

* * *

><p><strong>Next time! We have the Levia-tanArcher fight.  
>And there is no chance of me having him fight like Archer would, i aint fanboy enough.<br>This isn't a Tales Of sequence i'm writing.  
><strong>

**Anywho, this chapter is mainly in recognition to Comiket that's just past.  
>Approx. a fortnight ago. I know, it's late right.<br>So i decided to see how far i can go with the referencing, got pretty far and the next chapter will push it further.  
>I've also kept it as vague as i can for the most part. I'm not a huge fan but i have enough knowledge tor the baseline, hopefully i ain't pushing the baseline here.<strong>

**I was going to write the fight in this chapter but i feel it's better seperate.  
>Plus this chapter might also get too long otherwise because of the after-battle stuff.<strong>

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


	10. Infinite Knock-off Factory

**10/15  
>The chapter size is back up to snuff.<strong>

* * *

><p>The third day had come.<p>

Archer's bow was made.

The battle-play was upon them.

Gawain was currently drunk out of his goddamn mind, cursing everything in the whole world.

Alas, it seemed to just be a typical day otherwise. The sun was up high, the sky was a beautiful blue colour, the heat was stifling and the Japanese people were just as hospitable as you'd expect. Gawain hadn't even finished his pint by the time the next one came.

It was currently 3pm and Gawain sat alone in the small bar on the far end of the event hall, completely clad in the Archer cosplay that he wasn't even allowed to take off. He was, for a lack of better words, drinking his sorrows away because there was no way in hell he'd infringe on copyright laws while sober. That led to the problem of why it would only need him to be drunk to commit a crime like that but his King, Rias Gremory, currently wasn't in any kind of position to do otherwise. Reason being that she had made a bet with Leviathan saying that Gawain/Archer would destroy Levia-tan. Their bet centred around Gawain, luckily for Gawain it wasn't him in Archer form.

The reason for this bet actually went back nearly two years on one of his visits with Rias to the Sitri castle to see Sona Sitri. Quite simply, Gawain had gotten himself abducted by Leviathan and she had tried to get him to join her anime, whatever it was. Gawain obviously said no to her and walked away. The bet was simple, if Leviathan won then Gawain was hers to have in her anime and if Rias won, then Serafall would start a new anime...whatever with Gawain as the main character. Honestly, whichever was a problem for Gawain and he wouldn't want to win. He doesn't even know about this bet.

…

"Archer~! You have to win!"

"I am already aware that you want me to win Master. I've told you before, with the swords in my possession no opponent is too strong. And remember, Grayfia has been my opponent a lot of the time. Ice-users are the easiest to deal with for me, super-heating the blades should be easy to keep away from the human's minds."

"And the bow?"

"Well … my eyesight and the gaze I have may be fitting but I've never once used one of the bows from my Gear. I do prefer to feel my blows connecting after all."

"Leviathan-sama won't hold back though."

"Eh? From the off?"

"Hai."

"Master … We are boned."

…

Standing in the centre of the event hall, directly opposite Leviathan who was currently dressed completely in pink and holding onto a magic stick, was Gawain with the black half of the married duo in his left and the white half in his right. It felt right to him holding them in those hands but he was currently unsure on the mostpart for that. Just behind Gawain and to his left was his King or currently Master, Rias Gremory, and she was currently shaking in her boots. Both through anticipation and worry.

She had made a very stupid bet and she knew it, it only struck home once Gawain had confirmed it.

Gawain stood tall though, happy that he could go all out without worrying about hitting a barrier as all the attendees were outside watching from large screens that were on the walls of the event hall. The anticipated destruction was huge and Serafall Leviathan had brought in multiple high-class devils to strengthen the barrier placed on the event hall so they could go all out and make a good showing for everyone that was there.

But first was the spoken dialogue.

"We finally meet, Caster!"

Gawain was quick to deadpan at his Master's declaration. The story for the play was striking grounds for him, he'd much prefer to fight the original Caster. Even if he did believe that her teleporting was complete bullshit, not that it would trump his speed.

'Nyc, is everything prepared on your end?'

**'Yeah. We are both going to need a break after this. I'll go into the forests and find a bitch, you can go to Grayfia. We'll have earned it after this façade.'**

'Glad I can count on you Nyc.'

**'One last thing, everything is fused with me. Let's slay the damn Leviathan bitch!'**

If there was one difference between Nyctimus and Gawain, it was that Nyctimus really, really, really hated snakes and things that are associated with them. Therefore as Leviathan, Nyctimus hated her by default.

"Archer! Defeat Caster!"

Looking over his shoulder slightly, Gawain sent a hard gaze over to his King.

Turning back to look at Leviathan, Gawain started to walk towards her slowly. With each step being took, his body shifting into a stance, his arms slowly rising and the swords start to get pointed outwards. And then he disappears, reappearing again directly behind Leviathan who was more than quick to block with her magical stick before teleporting away.

**Crash Crash Crash**

Barrage upon barrage of icicles shot down towards Gawain, bobbing and weaving as he ran around the event hall. The barrage continued to rain down at him, following him as he ran. Even taking to the walls of the event hall, Gawain found himself being chased by the icicles barely even having room to breathe when they collided with the walls and exploded directly behind him.

Jumping off the wall, he threw both swords towards Leviathan and quickly projected the bow to hand, knocking a Nyctimus-version of Hrunting into place before letting it fly in a stream of red which surged straight in between and passed the two swords making them fly away from each other.

Vaulting as he flew through the air, Gawain caught onto each sword before he landed and was quick to push off again straight into a run safely dodging the icicles this time with a sufficient distance.

"Feuer!"

With a small grunt of annoyance, Gawain pushed his speed to the maximum and rushed towards Rias picking her up and jumping away instantly to dodge the exploding chunk of ice, which exploded into fragments sending them flying into Gawain who was forced to spin and turn, giving his back to the stray projectiles then cut right through him and the armour.

**'Even if Lord Gremory made this armour to last, still has nothing on that damn slithering icicle bitch. Boyo, let's begin the copyright.'**

Placing his master back down on the ground, Gawain turned to Leviathan and projected the bow again only this time knocking the Nyctimus-version of Caladbolg into place.

"_I am the Bone of my Sword."_

Letting the sword-turned-arrow fly, it's power radiated as it begun to rotate. Scratching at the air around it, distorting space-time, it flew without restraint. Streaking in crimson, it launched straight at Leviathan piercing straight through the incoming barrage and colliding with the huge block of ice that was acting as an improvised magic circle, resonating with a rainbow glow.

"_Steel is my body and Fire is my blood."_

Picking up Rias once again, Gawain was forced to change positions again as another barrage of icicles rained down on them.

"_I have created over a thousand blades."_

Skidding back to a stop, cradling Rias in his left arm, Gawain pushed his right hand forwards into the air pouring some extra mana into his defensive circle forcing it to take the shape of Rho Aias, the seven petalled flower.

"_Unknown to death, Nor known to life."_

The first petal shatters.

"_Have withstood pain to create many weapons."_

The second and third petal shatters.

"_Yet, those hands will never hold anything."_

As the fourth petal shatters, a barely visible smirk appears on Gawain's face.

"_So, as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works."_

The ground pulsed beneath them, Gawain's Corona magic flooding out in a blaze of fire that engulfs the whole event hall, turning and morphing it into his own creation. Nyctimus sharing his conscious with Gawain to further visualize the Reality Marble.

Blades scattered, hills rise. Everywhere turns into a murky, desert sunset. A barren wasteland only holding sword after sword, some duplicated but all altered. The wrenching grinding of black monolithic gears sounded from above, murky clouds scattered across the sky disguising some of the gears that were turning.

Taking a single step forward, the sword raised up into the air. Raising his hand up into the air, the swords moved and honed in on their target. By the tens, by the hundreds. And then Gawain dropped his hand down to his side and the swords in the sky shot forwards, with the speed and tenacity of a fighter jet's missile.

Raining in much like Leviathan's icicles, they were near endless. Once a sword had struck or missed it's target, it exploded into nothing only for an identical replica to appear elsewhere, waiting for its order.

"Archer~! Join me!"

Gawain answered that the only way he felt possible. By projecting the bow once again with three Caladbolg's in his hand. Knocking one into place and letting it fly upon peak and instantly knocking in the second and doing the same before knocking in the third one.

"Caster. What about your own Master?"

Gawain released he question at the same time he let the final Caladbolg fly.

The trio of rainbow explosion flooded throughout the area. Too much for Fate itself, possibly in Gawain's mind but he isn't facing just a Caster. He was facing a Maou.

"I have no master~!"

With a quick swipe of his hand, the swords above Gawain blurred into motion rocketing towards the smoke that was rapidly dispersing by the barrage of icicles that were being sent through it.

"So you killed him. Yet you are still here."

Pushing off from his position, Gawain sprinted straight towards Leviathan as she stayed where she was floating in the sky trying to counteract the hundreds of blades that were coming her way.

Running his hands outwards, a black nameless spear blinked into view. A firm grip on the spear's shaft for a split second before being launched straight upwards towards Leviathan's undefended underside. Jumping backwards, Gawain projected another black spear and launched that one too before dropping back down to the ground and skidding to a stop.

"Tch.."

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Gawain could tell that Leviathan was still good to go with plenty of magic left while his had just passed the halfway mark.

"Master...no, Rin. Shouldn't you be supporting me by now?"

Leaving no time to hear her reply, Gawain was forced to jump backwards as his eyes widen. Sheer surprise in his eyes as he saw the two black nameless spears embedded in the ground where he was just standing.

**'Hasn't been your few days has it Boyo?'**

'Ahh Shut up mutt.'

Projecting Kanshou and Bakuya back to hand, Gawain was halfway through re-summoning them as he moved his hands to cut through the oncoming barrage of icicles. One after another they came and one after another Gawain cut them down. As the speed and number of the projectiles increased, Gawain further increased his cutting speed and slowly changed his slicing pattern for ease.

"Rin! I'd really appreciate some support right about now."

Not even taking a glance over his shoulder, Gawain spoke to his master while his arms were quickly approaching the levels of looking like blurs. His feet pressed down into the ground hard, each cut through an icicle sent him backwards ever so slightly.

The icicles were also now starting to get larger, denser and colder forcing Gawain into super-heating the married blades in his hands.

**'Damn. Well I'll be, the little Master's Destruction magic looks just like Gandr shots. Who knew?!'**

'Ughhh. This can only mean bad things Nyctimus.'

**'Well … Just use Gae Bolg to pierce the snake bitch's heart.'**

The icicles didn't slow down, even with Rias' help and Gawain only found himself sighing yet again as he continued to slice through the oncoming icicles. Only able to save himself from the splitting fragments by the super-heating of his blades.

'Ahh Fuck it. Nyctimus, call more swords to take out the icicles so I can move from here.'

Not even a second passed by before the icicles started to fall from the sky, the countless number of swords piercing into the pointed blocks of ice and skewering them to the ground before they could disperse away. Jumping backwards in a zigzag pattern, Gawain found himself troubled. Gae Bolg was the only way he could win this but it would also probably kill Leviathan in the process. While beneficial to getting him away from this madness, he'd probably be sentenced to death for killing a Maou. Either that or he could run away and become a stray. Neither really seemed like decent enough options for Gawain.

Allowing the swords to continue their descent into the oncoming barrage of icicles, Gawain lifted both of his hands into the air above his head positioning them in a two-handed style.

Taking a deep breath, a sword started to appear in his hands while particles of golden light started to congregate around the blade that was slowly making itself appear. A golden blade being comforted and engulfed by a mass of flickering golden lights. It condensed and expanded. The Holy energy rising off from it pulsed into the permeating air around Gawain.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"

Calling off his swords with a roar, Gawain slashed the empty air right in front of him with his fake Excalibur and the condensed power exploded off from the blade. A surging beam of light rocketed off into the sky crashing straight into Leviathan. Holding the sword steady in front of himself, Gawain could feel the strain on the muscles in his arms. The rapid changing of weapons and the constant pull on his magic was odd, and it was weakening him.

The moment the huge beam of light disappeared, Gawain threw it into the air above him, not waiting for a second to check on his opponent's status. Summoning another four Excaliburs beside the one he threw into the air, Gawain sends them towards Leviathan gathering Holy particles as they flew.

"Haah...haaah..hah."

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Gawain dropped to his left knee. Allowing his body to slowly heal by itself, he looked up towards the smoke that lingered in the sky. The hall was silent, nothing but a leisurely breeze flowing through the hall.

"...Archer. I didn't expect you to have so much mana."

An annoyed sigh left Gawain's mouth as the smoke dispersed showing Leviathan worse for wear, a clear cut mark directly over her left shoulder and blood pouring out of it discolouring the upper portion of her left arm in red colour of her blood. What annoyed Gawain the most was the lack of heavy breathing, too many years alive. So much stamina shouldn't be in such a small body, even if it is meant to disguise her true appearance.

"Haaah...I've still got more Caster."

Projecting his bow to hand once again, Gawain knocked into place three Nyctimus-version Hruntings and took in a deep breath before steadying his body, aiming and letting the three 'arrows' fly. Only to see them explode on contact with three quickly formed icicles.

"Archer! Again."

Turning his head to look at his master, Gawain saw Rias hold up two fingers. Two. Gawain could only shake his head with a small wry chuckle.

"I see Master. You always were a bossy one."

Standing back up, Gawain let the floating swords fly again as he prepared himself for what was most definitely going to be the final attack, Whether either he or Leviathan could talk it or even if the barrier could take it.

He steeled himself. Raised both hands over his head, keeping his left hand just to the left of his head and his right hand just to the right of his head. Excalibur appeared in each hand, this time just blinking into existence with it's golden shine and the Holy particles were quick to start collecting around them both. With each gathering particle came an increase in the swords that Gawain used to rain down on the icicles ahead.

The two Excaliburs glistened in their Holy aura, the magic of the blood of a dragon fusing with them both empowering them, combining with the heat from Gawain's corona. It was a last ditch effort.

And then the two swords were brought down. An echoing whistling as the two golden blades sliced through the air. An overwhelming surge of energy burst into life, a thick vibration running through the ground where Gawain stood. The gears in the sky grumbled as they grounded. Then the beams were launched.

The two golden beams of light shot forward into the sky ripping straight through the barrier and the walls of the event hall rising straight up into the darkening sky and resonating together before exploding into a mass of shock-waves that coursed through the sky.

Gawain completely dropping to his knees as his arms had gone numb from both the pressure and overuse of magic, the 'one-use' sub-species to replicate _Unlimited Blade Works_ broke apart and completely disappeared returning the event hall to it's original design.

With a shake of his head with a pained expression on his face, he spoke with respect.

"It's my loss Caster."

Dropping his head down, he heard the soft clack of feet touching the ground behind him. Caster stood heavily wounded, her left arm covered in blood out of commission while her right arm was completely burnt.

The sweet scent of cherry hitting his nostrils as the head of Leviathan appeared to the left side of his vision, her eyes completely full with happiness and a hint of recognition.

"Well done Ga-chan~"

With Leviathan's praise said, Gawain allowed his consciousness to leave him and he fell forwards passing out.

…

With a pained groan, Gawain awoke hours later with pain coursing throughout his body.

"Yaaay~! Ga-chan is awake~!"

As Gawain was slowly getting his bearings back to him, he felt two things towards the back of his head. A strange but lovely softness along with the deep sound of a dog growling.

"Leviathan-sama, why is my head on your lap?"

Gawain was in a very advantageous position, for any man, but he had a fear that Grayfia was either nearby or that she knew what was going on.

"You were tired so I let you use my lap as a pillow~"

"That's … very gracious of you Leviathan-sama."

"Sera-chan~"

Gawain stayed silent, turning his eyes away so he couldn't look at whatever sort of offensive attack that'd come his way.

"Say it, Ga-chan~"

"Leviathan-sama."

"Say it~!"

"Leviathan-sama."

"Say it Ga-chan! Stop being a meanie."

"Sera...fall Leviathan-sama."

"Itaa!"

Gawain winces from the impact of the Maous magical stick against his head.

"Is something wrong Leviathan-sama?"

Gawain is forced to wince again as the magical stick strikes the side of his head once again. He was determined to not call her Sera-chan. He had only recently got used to saying '-sama' after all.

"Leviathan."

Another wince but this time the pain wasn't so bad, it gave Gawain an idea. Not a respectful one in the eyes of the Underworld but it was something typical for him.

"Serafall."

Turning back to look at Leviathan after not being struck in the head with an impossibly sturdy plastic cosplay stick, he saw a sweet, childish smile on the female face before him.

"Now come on Ga-chan. We got an anime role to prepare you for."

"Say what now?"

* * *

><p><strong>Done!<br>If memory serves me right then it's the first true battle i've done with my character losing.  
>Hopefully i did it well too. Fights aren't my strong point but i do hope i can write them in the manner that you can understand what's happening in motion.<br>**

**Canis Lykaon powered UBW is definitely strong. So much so I'm tempted to call it Stronk.  
>All that aside, my fate reference is over for a bit. Well in such size at least, i'll be referencing other things now too xD<br>Nyctimus ... he had to say what i saw. Hopefully, it's not just me who see the similarity between Gandr shots and the Power of Destruction.  
>Though it is just cosmetics in my mind.<strong>

**The copyright has been heavy in this chapter. Possibly just because i used the word copyright.**

**Hwyl fawr~!**


	11. Solar Room

**11/15**

* * *

><p>Eight months after Rias had turned 15, just over a week past the new year and she had gone to the human world with her peerage in tow. Gawain however had just turned 21 himself as his birthday was January 1st and he had also recently been given his teaching degree, something that took him too long to acquire in Grayfia's thoughts.<p>

Gawain had yet another problem concerning cosplay, well it was and wasn't cosplay. It could be determined as such because of who his King was but it also couldn't be because of the simple thing being that the clothes given to him were simple. The accessory given to him was what he saw as something odd. In recognition of him passing his test for the degree, Rias had given Gawain a set of clothes for him to wear as his time as a teacher. It was basic as well, Gawain couldn't even complain if it wasn't for Nyctimus telling him that something was odd about it all.

Rias had given Gawain a pair of black trousers, black loafers, a white shirt, a black bow-tie and a black vest. It was basically a suit though it was more like something that a bartender would wear in all honesty. The problem that came from Nyctimus was the blue sunglasses that lay on top of the clothes when Rias gave them to Gawain. They were somewhat out of place in a gift like this but nevertheless, Gawain took to wearing the clothes everyday seen as there were duplicates of it and slotted the glasses down into the hole made for the top button along with said button.

And when Gawain looked at himself in the mirror with the clothes on, he couldn't help but think he'd seen it before. It only furthered his natural delinquent looks in a way. It surprised Gawain that a simple haircut and ear piercing was enough for society to label you as a delinquent and even further the church to label you as someone destructive and practically no good. Still though, no one really disliked Gawain just a few found him really intolerable.

And absolutely nothing happened during the months that actually led up to both Rias and Gawain going to school, Kuoh Academy. Well … one thing did happen.

…

Dressed in the outfit that his King had gotten for him, Gawain stood just in front of the doorway to his room which was on the opposite side of the small mansion to the rest of the peerages. His room being at the end of the corridor for the servant's rooms, for some reason he hadn't learned yet Grayfia had already claimed the door next to his, it didn't leave him with a good impression though.

With a toolbox in hand, a set of double doors leaning against the wall and Nyctimus standing by his side, Gawain got onto his work for the day of thinking about what he wanted in his room and then doing it up. While his décor in the Gremory Castle was top notch, that was Underworld-chic. As he was in the Human world now, he wanted to go with Human-chic. Whatever that meant.

"**Why don't you use wooden wall counters?"**

"Expand on that Nyctimus. I'm getting a good vibe from it so far."

"**Just make what you want using wood but in the fashion of a kitchen counter. A flat piece to sit on, then two smaller parts for armrests. It also makes for cupboard space underneath if need be. Could also do it bunk-bed style, top bed I mean, create like a bucket. Actually I want that for my bed. Perhaps even make a space like the lounge chairs in a shrink's office. Instead of cushions, we can just use coloured drapes again."**

Gawain liked it. Gawain really liked it.

"Let's do it! Pull whatever you need out of my pocket dimension and place it where you want, draw some schematics too if you can. I need to install the double doors."

"**Yessir!"**

Giving Gawain a small salute with his paw to his head, Nyctimus toddled off into Gawain's room and started to pull all the necessary materials out of Gawain's pocket dimension and got to work on what he wanted.

In the mean time, Gawain readied himself for 'Intense Cursing Door Session, Version 2' as he stared down the set of double doors in front of him that were silently mocking him by resting against the wall. Counting the glare that Gawain was receiving in his mind to the doors in front of him, he picked up his trusty hammer and got to work himself.

Half an hour...Four hours later and Gawain was finished with the double doors. A whole 2 and a half hours faster than his first attempt in the Underworld and with less curses towards God and his angels but more towards Serafall Leviathan. Nyctimus actually joined in on the cursing session, along with Kuroka who was the only one interested in seeing the evolving of Gawain's room from blank and bland to 'Holy shit, that's awesome'.

This time however, there was less clutter in Gawain's room. That said, there was only three pieces of furniture that were to be used for people. Nyctimus' bucket bed taking up the whole length of the left wall. Gawain's bed which took up the whole length of the right wall, albeit with an odd design that looked like a sitting position that was leaning back into a chair and both of his feet up against the wall or resting on a surface like it was for his bed. Draped over the wood there were a multitude of drapes, doubling over for comfortable support. A sweeping rainbow over his bed, the whole space underneath his bed was used as a bookshelf.

At the head of the room was what looked to be the bare bones of a sofa that seated one person. Even the two arms to the chair were there and curved over. A half meter gap from floor to the bottom of the chair which was linked to the refrigerated portion of Gawain's pocket dimension where all of his alcohol from around the world was stashed. The arms of the chair was lathered in aqua blue drapes while the sitting portion of the chair had the same crimson drapes as his room in the Underworld.

Above Gawain's chair on the wall was the weapons that Rias had gave him for the battle-play with Leviathan. The married Kanshou and Bakuya in a small glass cabinet above the bow with hung up securely on a very small hook. On either side of the chair was a tall golden candle stand with a large bowl at the top of it and completely void of the candle but on a light sensitivity switch that would cause the stored mini-sun created from Gawain's Corona magic to appear and light up the room, complete with the solar flares and coronal clouds.

On the floor, leading from the door to the chair was a single violet carpet with black tassels on its edge. And like in the Gremory castle, swords boarded off the room on either side of the room. Multiple replicas of the black claymore that represented Canis Lykaon warded off the left side while multiple replicas of Galatine representing Gawain warded off the right side.

And the final touch to the room was the uniquely-styled chandelier which was another manipulation of Gawain's corona magic. It was a ball and tough, synthetic string that was completely invisible until the two mini-suns were turned off and right up until sunrise. When the time was right, the ball would fill up with demonic energy turning it to a complete black as Gawain's natural corona magic would react with it and line the horizon edge of the ball creating a coloured spectrum to recreate a total solar eclipse.

During the day, it was a rather bland room that was thick with a particular meaning that resonated for a single person and that was Gawain. It was simple and all that was needed, if he was planning to spend the night with a girl then he'd do it in her bed.

But during the night is what makes Gawain's room so spectacular, three sights of truly irregular occurrences can be seen in crystal clear detail that even the strongest telescopes wouldn't see. Sights that would rival those of satellites made to see things like this except that this could be a constant visual piece. It was pleasing and beautiful, not only those but it was a wonder to actually see. And it was that somewhat simple design choice that instantly made Gawain's room a piece of art.

Bland and simple by day, spectacular and beauty by night. And as it turns out, the day and night cycle is what makes something human-chic, in Gawain's mind at least.

…

The date was April 5th and Gawain was currently out taking Nyctimus for a walk, that was due to a unanimous decision because the mutt played a prank on Rias. Kuroka and Shirone just sided with Rias because why not? Gawain on the other hand sided with Nyctimus solely because he didn't see why he had to be the one to walk him otherwise he would have sided with Rias too. Supposedly because Nyctimus fused himself with Gawain, anything Nyctimus does is also Gawain's fault.

But Gawain and Nyctimus found themselves being followed by an energy signature that was familiar to both of them. And over the few years together, they had learnt about each other especially with Nyctimus' ability to sift through Gawain's memories.

"I suppose we should let her know that we know she is there!"

"**Yeah! That's a sound idea!"**

Contrary to the popular belief of the Gremory family that both Gawain and Nyctimus are actually stupid, they are just whimsical in their own way.

Black feathers cascaded down in front of the two who had just stopped to watch the female, in all of her black S&M glory, drop down to the ground slowly.

"Still as kinky as ever Raynare. 8 years and you are still wearing something so revealing."

"**It's a sight for sore eyes, right boyo?"**

Despite the fact that the being in front of Gawain was a Fallen Angel and his enemy, he couldn't care less. She was someone he knew, someone he could beat back then and someone he could easily beat right now.

"Nice to see that puberty hasn't changed you Gawain."

"Well, what can I say. Once awesome, always awesome."

"I can see."

The Fallen Angel called Raynare just rolled her eyes at Gawain's own view of himself.

"So why are you here Raynare? Don't tell me you want to get in my pants again? Thinking about it, what kind of being tries to seduce a 13 year old boy after getting her ass handed to her?"

Raynare just looked away at remembering that fact with embarrassment spread across her face.

"We had heard that the Gremory heiress was going to attend school in the human world. So as someone who knew Jin's previous possessor, I was tasked to joining the school to learn more and if possible retrieve him."

"Well, he goes by Nyctimus now. Better name in my opinion, plus he is my Sacred Gear now so it sounds like you have completed your mission already."

Raynare's gaze turned into a glare that was directed straight at Gawain's smiling face.

"Really? How much power do you want?"

"What goes around comes around doesn't it? You tried to recruit me for my power and now I took a Grigori power for my own. Rather than me wanting more power, it was another sword to add to my collection. Plus, the dog has similar interests to me. I'm not sure whether that's bad for me or awesome that an animal has such a supreme form of sentience."

Turning around, Raynare's 2 feathered wings acted like a wall as her clothes changed into the standard female uniform for Kuoh academy and Gawain had to say, it fit her damn well. With a small tilt of her head as a gesture, both Gawain and Nyctimus started to follow after her.

"What's it like being the Strongest Queen's boy toy?"

"It's pretty good honestly, that is when she stays away from the bondage plays. I mean I'm ok with a little bit of it but damn does she go overboard with it. It's hard to think that you can embarrass her easily with a little tease but she somehow gets all of this strong resolve when trying to force me into bondage."

"There are also rumours of you and Serafall Leviathan. Do you have an Ice-user fetish or something?"

"No, not at all. That Leviathan thing is simply rumour, honestly she is too much. Someone so small shouldn't be that cheerful and bouncy. It's like dealing with a toddler who can outmatch you in every point. It's not only depressing but emasculating as well."

"Then what's it like being the Queen to the Gremory heiress? You aren't even the type of person to be dissuaded by the 'Queen' sound."

"Eh, it was better at the beginning. She has grown up, matured, not as fun really. Plus she likes anime now, all the cosplay and being forced to 'enjoy' it too is too much. You wouldn't believe how depressed I was after having to do that damn battle-play as Archer. I bitched and moaned for nearly a week. Got some nice swords and a bow out of it though, not all bad but not really enough."

"You should know that both Grigori and the Church has put out warnings on you. Only the top exorcists and Fallen Angels with at least 6 wings should even try to take you on. I argued to raise that wing limit but Kokabiel-sama wouldn't have anything of it."

"Kokabiel huh? Wouldn't mind killing him."

Such an offhand comment but it just destroyed the conversation and plunged it all into complete silence.

"Raynare?"

"Yes Gawain?"

"Why are you still here?"

He didn't say it with any hint of annoyance, hate or anger but it worked to complete those three emotions in the girl's mind.

"I mean, I could kill you right now and be done with it all so your report doesn't get back to Grigori. Hell, I could even take your dying or dead body back to my King and have her reincarnate you as my own plaything. Doesn't really sound like a bad option, a Holy-magic user would easily over tempt my King especially when she has me who can keep you in check from rebelling. So Raynare, why are you still here?"

"To catch up?"

Definitely sounded like a question to try and throw Gawain off and take it for what it was, normally would have worked because Gawain doesn't go past a single answer in truth. He takes what he is given but this time it was different.

"If you wanted to do that then you would wait a few days for school to start. If you have heard that Milady is attending school in the human world and you know it's here then you know that I would be here too. I want the real answer Raynare."

"I missed you."

Now that sounded like the truth to Gawain but he can be pretty conceited at times so who knows if it is yet.

"You missed me? We had only met twice before. The first time when I beat your ass into the ground and the second when you tried to seduce me almost a week later. Are you trying to tell me that your failure of a seducing only work to shift the scales? I'm sceptical but...I don't know."

With a short sigh, Gawain scratched the back of his head.

"You do know that the only two developments are to either be content with seeing me at school or to join Milady's peerage and in turn become a devil."

"I do and it's why I'm so conflicted."

"It's not like you have to join today Raynare. You can see me at the school, while getting your desired fill of me you can come to a decision on whether it's enough or not."

Coming to a complete stop, both Gawain and Nyctimus turned around starting to walk back home the way they came.

"Just be careful Raynare. Milady may be young but she is at the level where she can easily take on a 2-wing. I can sate her anger for the time being but I do have to report meeting you to her when I return."

With a small wave, Gawain started to disappear but not without raising his voice once more as his back became further and further away from Raynare.

"Just think ok? Am I worth abandoning your duties towards Azazel? If so, I'll welcome you warmly. See ya."

* * *

><p><strong>And there is the introduction of Raynare to the story.<br>She is in and for good, still unknown how she stays for good though.  
><strong>

**It's the good and the bad and Gawain is obviously 100% good.  
>The guy is awesome but pretty troubled mentally, not even in a bad way at that.<br>Gawain is too nonchalant in all honesty, his lack of caring is astronomical at times.  
><strong>

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


	12. Gwain's Takeover

**12/15  
>Coming to the end of the straight uploads and boy am i getting mentally tired.<strong>

* * *

><p>April 8th. That was the first day of school for both Rias and Gawain along with the Sitri duo of Sona Sitri and her Queen Tsubaki Shinra. It was the day that Gawain looked forward too, a beautiful paradise for Gawain to make his own. He didn't have the standard notions of attaining a harem, no! He wasn't so perverted, he just had a mild god-complex towards humans now. He wanted them to praise him, revere him, worship him, offer themselves to him as sacrifice. That was what he wanted and that was what he would get over the next three years, as long as neither Rias or Grayfia caught onto his plan.<p>

Operation Ascension was about to be put into motion!

Standing next to the female school principle of Kuoh Academy, Gawain just stood in wait for his time to wow the girls of this here school and take his first step to becoming an icon. The principle may have been a 40-something married women but she was also someone who knew the bare minimum of Devils but that didn't stop Gawain from doing some minor flirting to get the principle onto his side. The first step to conquering is always to take out the existing head.

"And now, i'd like to introduce to you all the teacher who will take over from Kurohashi-sensei who has moved on to a Co-ed school. The new Home Economics teacher, Gawain Rheon-sensei."

As Gawain stepped out from the curtains, allowing the all-girl school cast of teachers and students to bask in his manly presence he decided that their was one ultimate thing he had to do. So when he took his place behind the microphone after sending the Student Council President who introduced him a cheeky wink, he slammed his hands down on the podium instantly exerting his dominance.

"Hello girls of Kuoh Academy. I am the person who is replacing Ms. Kurohashi as the Economics Teacher and will be the home room teacher to 1-A for the year. First thing I want to say or at least get straight in your minds. I'm British but more importantly, I'm a Welshman. Cast aside that petty sheep joke the damn English say, they are just petty individuals who try to put down others to make their crappy lives seem better. I will not be addressed by the suffix -sensei, neither will I react to being called Sensei by itself or anyone calling me by my last name of Rheon. No!"

Gawain randomly shouted out his no to further instil himself into the school's hierarchy.

"Refer to me as Sir, you can pop a salute if you want and I'll happily play along, Gawain if you are feeling up to it or simply Chef."

His early crazy aside, Gawain made too much of a point of what he wanted the Japanese school girls to call him. Furthermore, he was currently on the edge with the teachers of the school. He had completely dismissed the respect he should be rightly given in their society and told them all to be on first name basis with him.

"Now my introduction to the school comes with a few things that will potentially happen in the future. Certain bigwigs are wanting to turn this school Co-ed, much like an All-boys school in the next prefecture over. I'm here because I'm only 21 so I'm relatively close to your age and in their mind closer mentally to the males that will potentially join if it goes through. Problem being I'm a foreigner, yeah, I don't see the thought process behind that either. My morals are completely different to yours and you'll learn that quickly as absolutely everyone will be called by their first name. I even just got the O.K. to calling the principle, Hakua.

"Last thing before you are all dismissed. As the first male into the school and as the only male teacher, all counts of harassments that you lovely ladies receive whether it be on campus or not is to be given to me. I'll deal with it all. If any of you are troubled then come to me and the males of Japan will quickly learn to not defy a Descendant of the Arturian Regime."

Throwing his hands out to the side, he quickly garnered the full 100% attention of everyone in the school's auditorium. A large smile evident on his face, slowly morphing into a unique smirk Gawain addressed his audience, his people.

"Now go forth Young Maidens. It's the start to the new school year and it's first term. Have fun making new friends and learning new things. School is a wondrous place to be and this one isn't any different to that fact. See ya!"

Ending his small but weird speech playfully, he gives off a two-fingered salute before walking off the stage barely catching the sound of his King and her best friend sighing at his unique personality.

…

Sitting at his desk in the faculty office, Gawain stared at his lesson list of the week and the map of the school that he was recently given. Unlike the other teachers, he didn't really have to change rooms only having to do so for home room and the occasional sewing lessons. This meant that he could freely cook whatever he wanted, especially because he was given a larger workspace and cooking area than the students had for their cooking practices, according to the map at least.

The first thought that came to his mind was a simple one, are dogs allowed in school? He knew that it was a stupid question especially as he was the teacher for Home Economics but that was also a point, he was the teacher of home economics. Homes have pets, what better way to further their education about home life in these certain ways by having a particular pet to train on and with like brushing him or petting him, where and how is the best way to do so.

Gawain had thought it through explicitly in the nano-second he had. This was his second step to make, bring in his right hand to help govern and conquer. Nyctimus was the only being for the job in Gawain's mind. And Gawain would have to slowly work up to this and slowly proposition it with other teachers on his side. That meant he had to make them swoon and there was always one place to start with this, the forever alone teacher. Strike there first as it's the easiest target and also has the most power out of standard teachers because of her years of experience and no excuses for doing other things. It was sad but true.

Standing up from his seat with his class roster in hand, he found 4 familiar faces on that list and he was slightly confused as to why their was pictures next to the names. To him it betrayed the point of needing to call their names to see if they were in. It troubled him slightly as he stealthily slinked out of the room before the teachers could even wish him good luck. And with a slight skip in his step, he made his way through the quiet hall to his classroom.

Taking his place behind his podium in the completely silent classroom, Gawain wrote his name on the blackboard in a series of different languages even accidentally using the devil alphabet. Turning around he slammed his hand against the chalkboard making the girls jump in their seats and then with a sweet smile he addressed his class.

"As you heard a little earlier, I am the new Home Economics teacher and my name is Gawain Rheon. More importantly, I will be your home room teacher for the rest of the year. Any questions?"

And the hands shot up so he went with the face that he knew. Raynare or to the humans, Amano Yuuma. Gesturing towards her, the moment she started talking a number of hands went down for a few seconds before going up again.

"Gawain, do you have a girlfriend?"

That was a pretty obligatory question. Gawain knew how he should answer that but he decided against it.

"No. I don't."

And Gawain suppressed the shudder that went down his spine as he blatantly lied to three people who could make his statement go horribly wrong, and suppressed a second shudder from an icy foreboding feeling.

"Sir! Which of the vehicles is yours?"

"Mine is the black motorbike."

For some reason, instead of simply buying a helmet Gawain used the 'Realizer' as the bike's helmet.

Then the rest of the obligatory questions came in. Birthday, favourite food, favourite colour so on and so forth. Gawain answered them all in kind, he was not a private person after all. There was a number of times that the maids caught him wandering through the castle naked allowing the slightly humid air to dry his body off after a shower. That may perhaps be the wrong occurrence to use as evidence but it works.

"Then we'll get onto the class duties. Who wants to be the Class Rep?"

The hand that instantly shot up was one that Gawain visibly frowned and sighed at, not because it was the hand to Sona Sitri but because of the eagerness to perform such an annoying and boring job.

"Yeah sure why not. Souna Shitori can perform one of the world's most boring jobs. I'm gonna change one thing though, instead of Stand then Bow, it'll be Stand then Salute. Leave that just to my classes ok?"

"""Yessir!"""

A soft chorus of agreement from his class came as he mildly sulked to himself about what possessed the girl from Sitri to use such an unconvincing alias. It was barely even different, even a joke name would have been better in his eyes.

Looking to his watch, Gawain saw that his time for home room was nearly up so he decided to ask a question.

"The bell is about to ring so I want to ask all of you a question. Hands up for yes and leave them down for no. Ok?"

A series of nods came his way.

And then Gawain decided to completely betray all of their expectations with a very questionable question in terms of whether it should have even been asked.

"Who here is a lesbian?"

…

Making his way up to the rooftop just after the lunch bell had rung, Gawain found himself alone with one person. Resting against the railing was Raynare with two small packages in her hands, Gawain's stomach rumbled at his eyes' recognition of what was going to happen.

"Gawain, you came."

"Of course I did. You called me out explicitly for lunch rather than for the break, I've been forced into watching enough anime to know where it was going."

Closing the door to the roof, he joined Raynare in leaning against the roof's railings.

Passing Gawain the lunch box that she had made for him, Raynare spoke up.

"Why did that have to be your first question to the class?"

Raynare's tone was full of disappointment.

"I'm not so simple as to wish for a harem, I know my looks and otherwise for make that a sure thing in the world of the Supernatural plus I have a small God-complex, built up after cursing him during DIY sessions. These humans will worship me by the time males are allowed here."

"Are you sure you aren't a pure-blooded devil?"

"Yeah, last time I checked anyway."

Raynare couldn't help but giggle at the way Gawain responded.

"Why did you come in as a student anyway? If you were a teacher then this'd be better if anyone happened upon us. It may be better for my plan this way though."

"Azazel-sama's orders. I suppose he chose this to be closer to Rias Gremory and in all of her classes."

"I doubt that. With Lucifer-sama and Lord Gremory practically owning the school, you wouldn't be in her classes if I wasn't a teacher."

Opening up the lunch box that was given to him, Gawain let out a small coo of wonder at how delicious the food looked to him especially given the fact that it was Western-style.

"So what did Azazel say to the report?"

"Just to keep an eye on you, no matter the cost."

"Sounds like Azazel, from what I've heard off Lucifer-sama at least."

"It seems like he knows that you wouldn't really care if I gave back information on you and the others even if I was to join your group, voluntarily or forced."

"This group is mine to defend. It contains people that I've bonded with over the years and there is no opponent I can't overcome to keep them safe. I am Rias Gremory's Queen but more importantly I am her Sword. My duty is to destroy her opposition once told to and if I deem their death to be necessary."

The smile on Raynare's face dropped, a small look of dejection arose.

"So if I became someone that you needed to kill? Your own thoughts or orders."

"Then i'd kill you without regret. My honour is towards my King over anything else. My life isn't even second place to her life. The food is delicious by the way."

A small shake of her head brought a wry smile to Raynare's face. Gawain's way of going about things being enough to make her smile and feel content with her current emotions.

Love is something that just happens after all, it can be directed but it won't always complete the directed course. It's unpredictable and can strike at any time causing any linking emotions to arise at any given time or situation.

"Don't worry though, even with your knowledge of how powerful we are and what he have in our possessions. Anything up to four-wings couldn't defeat a member of the peerage. I would sooner kill them myself, I haven't trained them to be that weak."

"...Weak.."

"Don't brood over that Raynare. You are a Fallen Angel, of course you are going to see yourself as stronger. It's like that saying 'It comes with the territory'. It's an expected thing of a Fallen Angel. Of course, if you did join our peerage then i'd happily help you get stronger. I know a few ways that could improve your stamina and leg strength."

"Haah...Puberty really did a number on you and your personality."

"Hohohoho, you should have seen me when I was actually going through it. They were some good times."

**Crash**

"Gawain! Why are you eating with that crow?!"

"Ohh Milady, nice of you to join us."

Completely taking no notice of the rude and violent entrance followed by the even ruder question, Gawain chose to simply remark on her presence.

"Aniki, what are you doing?"

"Eating the lunch that Raynare made for me Milady."

"She could have poisoned it!"

"Ehh? Now who would do that to me?"

Gawain was letting his own personality take over now that they were in the Human world. Certain privileges of his King were revoked upon coming here and her current stance would seem as if she didn't understand the implications of her choices.

"Milady … no, _Rias_, let me fill you in one your choices with a little Q&A. Why did you choose to come to the Human World for education?"

"To learn and have some independence because of Otou-sama and Raiser-teme."

"Ding-dong~! Correct~! And what stems from your independence, what is the true nature behind it?"

"I don't want to be treated as a princess all the time, for once I want to be treated like a normal girl and to do that I wanted to come to the Human world."

"So why are you questioning what I am doing? Are you jealous that this girl is stealing what's yours? You wanted to be treated like a normal girl while in the Human World and as my King I am completely willing to do that for you. Since coming to the Human World, a lot of your power of us has gone. Inside school, we are teacher and student. I have the most authority here. That also stems to the house here, you still don't have full authority. If I want to eat lunch with a friend _Rias_, then I will."

"..Can you at least tell me next time?"

"Nope. In the human eyes, we are not brother and sister at all and we are also not involved in anyway other that Teacher and his student. During these times, I don't have to report to you on anything. Anyway _Rias_, Raynare has built up an infatuation with me and is on the fence about whether school life is enough or whether she wants to join us to spend more time with me."

"Do you trust her Aniki?"

"Rather than whether I trust her, it's more that I have no reason to doubt her plus even if there was anything it's not like she could overthrow my rule and power."

"Piece?"

"Bishop. For her, physical combat would be second as everyone else is primarily physical other than yourself Rias. Boost her magical reserves so she can expend more Holy magic is the best alternative, but it's not like I wouldn't teach her martial arts."

"..Fine."

Gawain's young master turned on her heels with a huff and walked off, slamming the door behind her.

"She dropped herself into that."

"Yeah, we pampered her too much in those regards. Hopefully this will act as a cornerstone and make her think more about the meanings to things."

"Ha, why do I feel like you are willing to get violent with that?"

"Because I am. You learn best in any topic when you are at danger with it, that's what I personally believe anyway. Though I should probably phrase it better, something like you learn quicker and better when you have something to lose as a result?"

"Sounds a little harsh."

"What else would you expect? I am a devil after all."

Gawain then joined Raynare in laughter. A soft chorus of laughter reverberated around the otherwise empty rooftop being carried around by the ever-so-light breeze.

Standing up and pushing off from the railing, Gawain threw the lunch box back to Raynare as he made his way to the door to the stairwell. Pulling the door after him, he stopped a step before completely disappearing and allowing the door to close properly sticking his hand out in a small wave back to Raynare.

"Don't hesitate to make me more food."

With his selfish point said, he brought his hand back to his side and let the door close after him.

* * *

><p><strong>Ta-dah! Gawain as a teacher folks.<br>Pretty awful by Japanese standards but at least he can fit in as the supply English teacher.  
>That's a plus ... right?<br>**

**Bet you didn't think that Gawain and Raynare would have the most interactions.  
>Well ... they don't. They do at the moment at least.<br>If it wasn't for Grayfia, Raynare might just hve had a chance at being Alpha.**

**Hwyl Fawr~!**


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